Revenge of The Titans: Prometheus Edition
by Tenkai Nankobo 101
Summary: Are you amongst the fans that enjoyed the Revenge of The Titans saga and were sad to come to the end of it all? Never fear for an unabridged collection of all five books including the two-part tale "Heart of Tartarus" is now available. Witness the evolution of Gabriel Johnson, the demigod son of Cronus and half-brother of Zeus, and see him fulfill his destiny in its entirety!
1. RotT: SoOE: Title and Table of Contents

Revenge of the Titans

The Son of an Old Enemy

By

Christopher Cleveland

**Table of Contents**

**Percy: A disturbance in my summer**

**Thalia: The first hunt and the quarry**

**Nico: Returning to Camp Half-Blood and my first Council meeting in a while**

**Nico: Reuniting with my friends once again**

**Annabeth: Doing a little research into the past (with some unexpected help)**

**Percy: A-not-so fine reunion with my father in his Palace and more answers**

**Percy: My brother Tyson to the rescue and getting a special package from Mom**

**Thalia: Making amends with my father finally**

**Nico: Bringing my new friend to the Underworld for business**

**Annabeth: Gabriel and I pay Prometheus and his friends a visit**

**Percy: Talking with my old friends and the new one about this past week and finalizing plans**


	2. Percy: Disturbance in my summer

**Percy:**

**A disturbance in my summer**

Hi, my name is Percy Jackson and I am a son of Poseidon, Olympian god of the Seas. I am also a leading member of the coolest summer camp on the face of the Earth: Camp Half-Blood. We have recently been going under some customization to the Camp but it's the same old Camp Half-Blood for the most part. What kind of customization might you be asking?

Well, a few weeks ago, me and my fellow demigod campers defeated the Titan king Kronos as well as some other Titans who were trying to destroy Olympus. Kronos' evil plan was to distract the gods with the monster Typhon while he destroyed their home. I rallied up all the Campers I could find and defended Olympus with every breath in my body. I even defeated Kronos almost entirely in single-hand combat when he possessed a traitor named Luke.

Ultimately though, Luke turned the blade on himself and destroyed Kronos before he could regain his full strength. Despite his betrayal, Luke was deeply missed by many of the campers even my girlfriend Annabeth of the Athena Cabin (Luke was Hermes' son). At the end of the war though, I noticed that demigods sided with the Titans because demigods were not recognized by their parents soon enough and felt abandoned. Therefore, I turned down immortality offered to me by the gods and instead asked that every demigod child of every god, minor or major, be recognized by their twelfth birthday.

So far, the gods have agreed to their word and seen to it that all the demigods we have are recognized immediately and not crammed into the Hermes cabin because they weren't claimed. But one day, out of the blue, I'm called just after my day has ended to the Big Cabin where our director Chiron dwelled. Chiron looked white as a sheet when he and I initiated the conversation that I wouldn't be forgetting anytime soon. "Percy, you know how Poseidon, Zeus, and Hades have all had demigods right?" he asked.

I nodded, not quite getting at what he was saying but I allowed him to explain. "And you also remember me saying that Kronos was my father correct?" he asked, still frightened. Again I nodded and allowed him to explain what he meant if he wanted to. "Well, it appears as though… my father has produced a demigod son who survived the destruction of Mount Orthys and that's just assuming he was there when Kronos attacked us," Chiron explained.

"If Annabeth were here to hear this, she'd be cursing in Ancient Greek like crazy," I thought aloud. "She already knows and you're right, she _did _go crazy on cursing in Ancient Greek," Chiron replied. I smiled, not a smile to say it was funny as this was a serious matter, but because Annabeth was somewhat predictable now that I had gotten to know her better. Now I said somewhat because she can still go bananas and I would not know when, why, or how.

"Have you taken any action against this demigod yet?" I asked. If I knew Chiron well enough, he would have already done something to bring this demigod to camp, if possible. "I've sent Thalia and the Hunters of Artemis to track him down and I've also asked Nico to use the powers of the Underworld to help them," Chiron answered with a nod. "However, Chiron would like you as backup in the event that Thalia, the Hunter and Nico fail to bring him down," Mr. D said.

"Dionysus, do not trouble this child's head with comments like that. He did save Olympus as well as Camp Half-Blood just a few weeks ago," Chiron sneered. "So what if he did, he's still under our authority since he refused immortality from Zeus himself," Mr. D replied. "Will you both save your arguments until _after _I have left the room please?" I asked, knowing how well these arguments usually ended.

"Percy, just know that though what Mr. D says is true I personally hope it doesn't come to that. You did well enough three weeks ago when you defeated Kronos, it's time for someone else to gain some glory," Chiron said. I understood what he meant, hey it's not every day you get to slay the ruler of the Titans. Truthfully, I hoped Thalia or Nico caught this son of Kronos and brought him to camp thus obtaining their share.

I went to my Cabin while Mr. D and Chiron resumed their arguing, tired and beat from the day's work of working with the Aphrodite boys since they were lazy. Plus there was the Hypnos cabin to be concerned with as well. I had Briares take over for me when I was called to Chiron's headquarters and asked if he could take over the next few shifts with Hypnos. All in all, it was a very enlightening day considering that now I knew that Titans could have demigod children just like my father and the other Olympians.

The thought of Kronos having a demigod child after already trying to kill his six godly children and having Chiron made me shudder. Not that I didn't like Chiron because of who his Dad was but there was also the fact that Kronos had banished his own father from the throne of the universe at the beckoning of his mother. And Gaea didn't exactly come across to me as a very good mother either thanks to the existence of Kronos and the Titans. Simply stated, Kronos disgusted me overall and I had sworn to myself that he and the Titans would pay for what they did to all of us demigods three weeks ago.

Since they had paid like I hoped they did, I rested knowing that the Titans were scattered at the moment. But this demigod unsettled me because what if the Titans used him as a banner under which to rally? What if _he _became the next King of the Titans and led the remnants against us? Just thinking of that made me remember how twisted and evil Kronos had shown him to be when I faced him on Mount Olympus and on his ship, the _Princess Andromeda_.

Thanks to the defeat of the Titans, my dreams had become better but this one was truly a nightmare in its own right. I was in the middle of a forest not too far from the state of New York. Maybe it was Pennsylvania or some place like that but anyway, I saw this man dressed from head to toe in gold except for a horizontal crest on the top of his helmet and a red, flowing cape. He had a bag which contained something that had my curiosity for a little while but stopped after I noticed his eyes shining gold like Kronos' at me.

The man in golden armor then came at me and would have apparently grabbed me if I had not awakened. _Thank you Morpheus for that dream, I really needed it _I thought to myself. But that didn't really stop me from reporting what I had seen to Chiron as soon as I could. It was still daylight so I wouldn't be in trouble for leaving my Cabin nor would I be in trouble for visiting anyone else's.

So I decided that if it was still daylight when I was done talking with Chiron, I would go pay a visit to my girlfriend Annabeth of the Athena cabin. Chiron had just finished arguing with Mr. D again and I asked if I may have a moment in private. "I always have a moment for one of my students, what can I do for you Percy?" he asked. "Can you tell Nico and Thalia to look for a man dressed from head to toe in golden armor with a golden shine to his eyes, a horizontal crest colored red across his helmet, and an equally red cape?" I asked, seeing no other way to word my question.

"I presume you had a dream about the son of Kronos and that's what it showed you?" Chiron answered. I nodded and said that Thalia would have to be careful about dealing with him. When asked to clarify, I had him promise to tell her that it would be best to have none of Artemis' Hunters attack if they could help it. "After all, it could give him enough reason to kill them all if they attacked first," I explained.

"Very well, I shall notify Nico and Thalia immediately. Nico could use a hint like that since he's having trouble pinpointing the aura of this demigod. We do have enough demigods around to hide his if he was clever enough about it," Chiron said. I thanked him for his help in delivering my message to Thalia and went out of the Big Cabin to go see my girlfriend.

To my surprise as well as my delight, Annabeth was not hyped on the laptop she had been given by the Athenian architect Daedalus. "Hey Percy, how are you today?" she asked, knowing I was probably tired. "You know how I am when you look at me," I replied and that was true. "Did Chiron tell you about the new possible threat that may be headed our way?" she asked, to which I nodded.

"To even think that the Titan would have children by a mortal woman is just a mind-blowing thing to know," she stated. I agreed and told her that Thalia and the Hunters of Artemis had been sent to track him down. "My only hope is that he is nowhere near as powerful as his father. Otherwise, we're in big trouble if he finds out about Camp Half-Blood (if he doesn't already know) and decides to pay a visit," she said.

I knew that was for sure and even asked her if she had heard of a demigod son of a Titan before. "Well, aside from Prometheus' son Deucalion and his wife I have not heard of a single one," Annabeth answered. Now, I knew I could trust Annabeth to be correct on that answer because (in my opinion) there was nothing about the legends of our parents and their previous children that she didn't know. The Athena kids were, after all, the brightest and the most intelligent amongst all the other campers.

They knew how to form battle plans when no one else could and also knew how to inspire the other campers to carry them out effectively. To me, that would be a double-win on the part of the Athena campers in almost any situation. But now that she mentioned to Deucalion, I had to ask who he was. "With the aid of his father Prometheus, Deucalion was the second creator of mankind.

"After the first war against the Titans, the gods realized they had no one to worship them since the humans created before the war had been wiped from clean from the face of the Earth. So Zeus commissioned Prometheus and his brother Epimetheus to create an entire population of all the creatures we know from scratch. Prometheus knew precisely what Zeus needed for worshippers but could not perfect his design when he realized that Epimetheus had squandered all the gifts intended for Zeus' worshippers. All of them, except a heart for the creature and soon, man was born again in spite of the imperfections Epimetheus left them with and the fact that they were made from clay," Annabeth began.

Now keep in mind that though my attention span is very limited, Annabeth always knew how to make it unlimited at least temporarily whenever she spoke. I let her continue because it looked like she had more to say. "Mankind as Prometheus saw it suffered because they had nothing to protect them against the dangerous animals of the night nor something that could keep them warm at night or help them see in the dark.

"At that time, the only thing that could do all three was fire and Zeus strictly forbid the gods from giving fire to mankind. But seeing the wisdom in this potential race of worshippers, Athena gave Prometheus her helmet of invisibility and let him steal some fire from Olympus. He brought it down to man and at first, Zeus was furious when he smelled smoke coming from the fires below Olympus. But mankind was saved from his wrath when they started cooking meat on the flames and the smell of cooked meat reached the noses of the gods.

"But then Prometheus taught mankind how to cheat the gods by using two different piles of meat and bone, telling Zeus to pick one. Because Zeus thought that the better it looked the better it tasted, he chose a pile that was not very good and was infuriated when it was lit as a sacrifice. This was because Zeus let mankind keep fire in exchange for sacrificing the best of everything they had and Prometheus taught them how to keep the best for themselves. Thus, Prometheus was punished to have the eagle eat out his liver every day and heal at night as he may have mentioned when we met him; it's also how the whole business with Pandora's Box began," Annabeth finished with that.

Just in time too since my attention span had just about ended and I barely remembered any of the details she had given. "So Prometheus wasn't punished because he gave mankind fire, he was punished because he taught them how to cheat the gods," I said and it wasn't a question. "Yes but he likes to say he was punished for bringing the fire to increase sympathy on his part. That's how he managed to persuade so many demigods to join the Titans three weeks ago," Annabeth said.

"Well I hope Thalia and Nico find him soon. I'd like to rest knowing that there is no immediate threat to our existence from this demigod," I stated. Annabeth concurred then told me to come over to her bed and lay down with her. I accepted since I could barely keep my head up anyway and she always loved it when I was right next to her.

She held my head to her chest and I wrapped my arms across her as we lied down on the bed she usually had to herself for at least half an hour. Hey, we were both tired from our jobs as supervisors of the construction of the cabins and we needed some time to be together. Anyway, I was woken up by Annabeth's half-brother Malcolm and was told that it would soon be nighttime. I knew I had to walk back to the Poseidon Cabin so I gently pulled my arms from behind Annabeth and gently pulled myself out of hers so as not to disturb her sleep.

On my way out, I thanked Malcolm for giving me the heads-up and he nodded in reply. I returned to the Poseidon Cabin and lied down on the bed I typically slept in and that was a bed next to the fountain in my cabin. Hey, I'm a son of Poseidon, I need water to regenerate even if I don't always regenerate by drinking any water. I had no dreams that night but I did have a lot of thoughts including the possible fulfillment of the new Great Prophecy made at the end of the Second Titan War three weeks ago.

Could this be the son of lightning or the giant mentioned? One had to wonder about all the different possibilities and one had to hope that Thalia and Nico would be all right. But especially Thalia since she was a daughter of Zeus and we'd hate to lose that to a son of Kronos fighting against us. Hey, when she's here, she's the most powerful demigod we have; what else can I say besides that?


	3. Thalia: First Hunt & The Quarry

**Thalia:**

**The first hunt and the quarry**

Hi, my name is Thalia and I am a demigod daughter of Zeus the ruler of Olympus and the current Lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis. Today, my quarry is an interesting case because like Chiron, Poseidon, and Hades, he's my uncle through the Titan Kronos. But he is barely any older than I am (I'm sixteen and he's been somehow revealed to be seventeen going on eighteen) and perhaps a bit more rash. Thanks to my cousin Nico (son of Hades), I was able to track him and find out his age and physical characteristics but it was thanks to Chiron that I knew his godly connection.

We have been on his trail since Chiron first heard about the demigod son of Kronos two weeks ago but we didn't find anything. Then my cousin (by Poseidon) Percy told us of a dream he had where he saw a man in golden armor with the same golden flash in his eyes as Kronos. We knew we had our objective when Nico confirmed it by using his powers to seek out the demigod from below the ground. We tracked him down to a part of a mountain range we had never seen before: the La Sal Mountains near Moab, Utah.

The mountain we tracked him to was called Haystack according to the locals and seemed more like a pile of rocks than a mountain. As for its height, well, let's just say I was not eager to try and scale this mountain. _Do not walk in a straight line up the mountain, zigzag it until you're at the actual top rather than the false top you'll see _a voice whispered to me. For some reason, I usually took this voice's advice even though it usually defied my good sense but this time it didn't.

Tell you the truth, this is where I think I should have gone to the Rockies more often. Scaling this mountain was not only difficult but frightening as well since I was comparatively uncoordinated and everyone around me was moderately skilled if not way better than me. By the time I reached the false top, I knew I wanted to turn back but at the same time I knew I had to keep going. According to one of my subordinates, I could get a good view of my target by following his aura from the summit of Mount Haystack if I made it.

The truth was that that subordinate named Katherine was right about that. I did get a good view and even located the son of Kronos in an area at town level called Ken's Lake. Using the powers of my father and bringing my hunters with me, I flew down to the lake and ordered my hunters to divide into groups and search for our target. Since there were twenty-six of us, I ordered my group to divide into two groups of thirteen and encircle the demigod from all angles.

I made sure that my Hunters had all of their bows ready to shoot just in case but had a good talk with the more impulsive ones before I led them to action. We arrived at a camping spot where the aura was strongest and closed in on our man in golden armor. Let me tell you, I wasn't feeling love at first sight when I saw this man but I came under severe temptation to order my hunters to stand down. All of that for the sake of knowing the name of the man who stirred these feelings within me.

But I had to mentally slap those out since I was a Hunter of Artemis and I could not be allowed to fall in love with another man. Least of all, my own prey too and that would have been dangerous. But Phoebe, my second, was the first to make a move and asked if the man was the son of Kronos that we were looking for. "About time you losers found me, I was beginning to wonder if I would be having Artemis on my toes too," the man bluntly replied.

"Phoebe, back down; I am Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus and Lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis. You _knew _we were coming and that we were on the search for you?" I asked, inquisitive to know my target a bit better. "Well I'm Gabriel A. Johnson, son of Kronos and servant of who I call the 'Special Five'. By the way I did know you were coming and I knew you had been searching for me almost from the moment you started," he said, something that surprised me.

"First, who are the 'Special Five' and secondly, how were you informed of our coming?" I inquired. As a hunter of Artemis it was my job to know my quarry as best as possible and being a daughter of Zeus, there was no way this man would lie to me. Unless he could very easily have done so and chose not to or chose to lie and was hiding all the signs of deception very well. "That I cannot tell you with twenty bows armed and ready to shoot their arrows at me, back down and _maybe _I will reveal who they are," Gabriel answered.

Phoebe said nothing but released her arrow, hitting the shoulder plate of Gabriel's golden armor. To my surprise and the regret of Phoebe, the arrow literally bounced off the demigod's armor! "Do that again Hunter of Artemis and everyone here, including you and your lieutenant, shall suffer my personal wrath," Gabriel hissed. In spite of my attempts to stop my Hunters from doing so, one of them fired another arrow that hit the upper thigh piece of his armor.

Quicker than the fastest striking snake, Gabriel drew out two Grecian short swords and immediately cut down ten of the Hunters who happened to be behind him. As for the rest of us, we charged all at once and even I knew we were all committed to bringing down this demigod if it was the last thing we did. Eventually we worked him into a tight spot but then he surprised us with something I had never seen before. With at least half the speed of light, he twirled the blades all over his body at all different directions and hacked three of my Hunters down before we could do anything.

Then I summoned a lightning bolt from the heavens to destroy this demigod immediately. However, the bolt was only good for putting a hole in the ground when I saw the son of Kronos dodge the lightning bolt quicker than it could have hit him. He flew so far and turned around gracefully to place his feet on the trunk of a tree. Then just as gracefully and quickly, he bounced off the tree and created a gust of wind so strong that eight more of my Hunters were swept to different directions.

Dust higher than seven or nine feet blocked our view temporarily but when it distorted, I saw him bring down another Hunter. That left only four out of the original twenty-six that had come to fight him remaining. Not only that, but it had also been done in barely four minutes although it felt longer to me and everyone else. Apparently, this demigod did not have his father's ability to control time but that had me wonder what his powers were like.

For a moment, Gabriel sheathed his swords and grabbed two of my Hunters. Then he bashed their heads together and threw them aside, leaving just me and Phoebe. He unsheathed his swords as quickly as he had unsheathed them and sheathed them the first time before we were even in striking distance. He deflected most of our attacks but caught us off guard again when he twirled his blades across his body with at least half the speed of light.

Just as quickly, I was kicked into the abdomen and sent flying several yards across the campgrounds of the Lake until I was wedged into the dumpster. Literally, the momentum of my flight would have killed any ordinary mortal but just cause serious injury to me when I hit the dumpster hard enough to almost bend it in half. By the time I had pulled myself out from the squeeze, Gabriel had already dealt with Phoebe and avenged the offense she had committed to him. If he wasn't satisfied I wouldn't know what would considering that Phoebe had been thrown right into the wall of a campground bathroom and that was partly cement.

Gabriel turned his attention back to me knowing that I would squeeze myself out of that bent dumpster. His swords immediately turned in my direction and boy was it hard deflecting and dodging all of his strokes. He moved with the speed of a god and the ferocity of a Minotaur; his skills as a warrior catching totally off guard. When we finally crossed blades and held them in position for longer than a few seconds, we had a conversation I'll never forget.

"What do you want, to destroy Olympus or my father?" I asked. "No, I don't want Olympus and I most definitely do not want to challenge your father's rule. For goodness sake, I'm a servant of four Olympian goddesses and one god," he answered. That stopped me in my tracks and made me wonder if this was his 'Special Five' that had been speaking of earlier.

"If you don't want Olympus then what do you want?" I asked, hoping I'd get some answers. "You're attacking a servant of Olympus why should that be any concern to you?" he replied. Now I had to admit that he was right about what his reply to my question. And that made me wonder even more things than I had already begun to wonder about.

First off, who were the 'Special Five' that he served? Second, how did he come to the service of the Olympians? Third, what _did _he want if it was not to destroy Olympus or rule the world? Last, why _was _I fighting him if he wasn't even my enemy in the first place?

As I was thinking about all these things, I was suddenly pushed to the ground by a lunge on his end. My sword flew right out of my hand and landed in the soil between two boulders of equal size. "Don't make me go around and finish off all of your comrades Thalia, I'm in no mood for taking the lives of any demigods today," Gabriel said. "You mean you've killed demigods before?" I asked.

"Not many and mainly out of self-defense whenever I've been attacked. I was most particularly in need of killing demigods when I was escaping Mount Orthys," Gabriel answered. "You had to escape from Mount Orthys, why?" I asked. "When I was on a diplomatic mission for the Special Five, Kronos captured me.

"Since Kronos was my father, I felt his dark aura scatter when Luke Castellan killed himself to destroy the Titan. I knew it was only a matter of time before Mount Orthys fell so I made my escape while I could," Gabriel explained. "Well if you had to escape the Titans and you're not an enemy of Olympus, then what purpose to you have?" I asked him.

"If you really must know I seek revenge against a particular Titan for the destruction of my mortal family. Every single one of my family members had been killed by this Titan; now I only live to see my father's kind suffer unless they are under the protection of Olympus," Gabriel explained. "Let me get my sword so I can put it away, please," I requested. Although I was a daughter of Zeus and seldom afraid of anything, the way he looked at me sent a slight chill down my spine.

Not because he looked at me with the intent to kill me but because his eyes confirmed everything he had said to me. That and the fact that a warm feeling toward him was stirring in me. I was not sure if it was love or sadness for his loss, maybe it might have even been pity for him. At any rate, something brewed in me that I had not even felt with Luke before he betrayed Camp Half-Blood and before I was transformed into a pine tree.

I slowly grabbed my sword and moved it to my scabbard to assure him that I was not up to anything bad. Then I did something that I would never be sure of and I don't even know why I did it. I fell to my knees and offered myself to him as his servant for everything he would need me for. "I don't need a slave, I'm already a servant myself to the gods of Olympus," he replied.

At first, I meant to protest but he stopped me by saying that my Hunters were all alive. As proof, many of them began stirring from where they had lied unconscious just a few minutes ago. They were all in pain as a result of their injuries, some couldn't even get up without aid. My eyes had to be deceiving me at this point; there was no way in all the heavens that my Hunters could have indeed survived the blows they sustained from Gabriel.

"I was using about four percent of my power at very most so imagine what would have happened if I had gone halfway," Gabriel said. Then he asked for name of the Hunter who struck him first. "She's the last one you defeated before you fought me and her name is Phoebe," I answered. He looked at the wall of the bathroom he had sent her into and saw not only a huge hole in the wall but that she had also landed near perfectly on the toilet in a sitting position.

If Gabriel was not surprised at the damage, he was certainly surprised when he saw her sitting almost perfectly on the toilet. "My god, that's almost like something out of a cartoon," he said. I just had to release a giggle since I knew exactly what he was talking about. Besides, who couldn't look Phoebe without practically having a heart attack from laughter?

I was the only one who even gave that positive reaction since everyone else was too injured to notice anything besides their pain. "Will you come with us quietly to Camp Half-Blood? I'll make up what I've done to you and that's something you can count on," I begged. There was no way I was going to leave this campground without having at least obtained the demigod.

"If I go there, I go my own way because at the moment I am delivering something important to one of the members of the Special Five. I just hope no one got to the bag I had during the fight and gotten to the contents of it," Gabriel answered. He looked relieved when he found the sack, which was reddish-brown and had a long shoulder strap. But before he could go, he and I both sensed a tremble in the ground but only I knew what that meant.

I knew what that meant but he didn't so he mistook it for me trying to kill him. I had never been so frightened in my life and hoped that my death was merciful.


	4. Nico: Return to Camp & 1st Meeting

**Nico:**

**Returning to Camp Half-Blood and my first Council meeting in a while**

That's right baby! I arrived with some heavy-duty cannons dating back to the Civil War as well as some undead soldiers to wield them. We arrived just in time as it seemed to me like Thalia was going to be killed by the demigod son of Kronos. I couldn't let that happen so I ordered the first rounds to go off and destroy him.

But quicker than the cannonballs, he dodged them and they just whistled harmlessly by. Since they were fired by undead soldiers and were the equipment of the Underworld, they were absorbed into the ground and did no damage to the surrounding environment. Then I ordered the Gatling guns brought in and I made sure that every last bullet the soldiers had in their present supply was fired. To my eternal amazement, they all missed; thousands if not millions of bullets failing to hit one obvious target.

"He's too quick for guns, I should know I tried to fight him with twenty-five Hunters just before you came in," Thalia said to me. "Then I will have to bring in a weapon that specializes in both range and in seldom missing it's target. Bring in a turret from the WWII carrier we have back in Hades. "Even if it doesn't miss, how do you know he won't just shake of the blast?" Thalia asked.

"There's no living thing besides the gods that could shake of the blast of this turret. It's range is too great and the explosion is too wide to be easily avoided without prior desertion of the area in question," I answered, confident in my father's powers. "Funny, two of my Hunters shot at him with arrows made of celestial bronze and they simply bounced off his armor," Thalia replied, feistier than was normal. Still, I ordered the turret to fire its round once it was brought in and I smiled in the knowledge that we had smoked that son of a gun.

The explosion came and went in an instant, leaving me to gloat about my victory. I ordered soldiers to make sure nothing remained but to my shock, the demigod was still alive! That and besides a chunk of his helmet as well as more than half his cape, the demigod was completely unharmed. He cut down my soldiers like they were grass and he was a lawnmower, even going as far as to destroy the cannon with single pulse of telekinetic energy.

"That's not even possible, nothing survives that cannon at that range!" I shouted, desperate. "If you really wanted to try and destroy me, have the Enola Gay and her crew come back long enough to drop another atom bomb on me. I doubt that would change anything save the fact that several innocent mortals would die in the blast and you would look like an idiot in front of your dad," the demigod replied. "I will destroy you if it's the last thing I do, I swear it!" I hissed as I unsheathed my sword.

"Stygian ice, no doubt you honestly believe that you by yourself (with a blade made of ice) could do what a daughter of Zeus with twenty-five Hunters of Artemis couldn't do?" the demigod asked. I hesitated and he took that brief moment of hesitation to grab the sword, yank it from my hands without even cutting himself, then give me a solid punch to the nose. My nose bled like crazy and Thalia took me to go to the Apollo kids I brought with me for medical attention. We were soon on the road after the last of the Hunters had been gathered up and were in the cars we had been given by Chiron.

I ordered for a pursuit to be mounted against that demigod but was told that if we did that the Artemis Hunters would likely die from the wounds. Reluctantly, I had to give up any hopes for a chase that I could have had and let the Apollo kids proceed with driving the wounded home. At the same time, I attended to my bloody nose and made sure that the bleeding was stopped before blood leaked everywhere. But a question came to my mind when I had healed my nose and placed myself next to Thalia.

"How did that demigod know who I was?" I asked. "His name is Gabriel from what I can gather and he knew you most likely because of your sword," Thalia answered. "But how would he know the difference between celestial bronze and Stygian ice?" I asked, inquisitive and a bit of a pouter. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Thalia said calmly.

I told her to try me but I was unprepared for what she had to say. "That demigod does not serve the Titans. In fact, he was on a diplomatic mission on behalf of Olympian gods that he calls his 'Special Five'. Keep in mind that a rogue demigod in the service of Olympus is not unheard of so he may have seen Stygian ice before," Thalia explained. I was at a complete loss for words because I had not thought of it.

A demigod son of Kronos under the service of Olympus in spite of having no membership in Camp Half-Blood? Now I knew that I was definitely in for some trouble with my father and stepmother when I realized that. "But that doesn't answer my question of how he might have heard of Stygian ice before," I said. "Perhaps he saw it used by the Titan Army when we were waging war against them three weeks ago," she replied.

That solved my questions for the moment but there would undoubtedly be more along soon. At the back of each of the cars, Apollo medics began working on the repairs that the Hunters would need before they could even stand let alone fight the demigod again. "Hey Nico, compared to my hunters, he let you off the hook so be grateful you never got more than that bloody nose," Thalia stated. "What about you?" I asked rudely.

"My left arm is broken from hand to shoulder and my spinal cord is in great pain. Now don't laugh at me, you get kicked in the abdomen hard enough to fly right into a dumpster with the equivalent impact of a meteor then tell me how it feels. By the way, my abdomen and the whole area around it hurts from that as well," she answered. "Well at least you weren't expecting when you received the injuries," I said, completely off the top of my head.

She slapped me in reply and told me to be ashamed of myself for saying that. "What, the impact would likely have killed the baby and you would have needed to get it out of your womb, right?" I asked. "That's not the kind of thing you talk to a girl about much less a Lieutenant of Artemis who also happens to be Zeus' daughter," Thalia answered. I shrugged and we did not speak anymore after that in the knowledge that if we did, we would likely be at each other's necks before long.

We were soon back at Camp Half-Blood after we took the cars for a little flight in the air and landed near the camp. The Apollo kids quickly brought the Hunters of Artemis into the Asclepius Cabin where the real medics began their work on Thalia's warriors. For Thalia, it was just a quick cast on her arm and she was soon back in action but not of the other Hunters were so lucky. Phoebe and about seven others were bound to wheelchairs, ten more could not even be moved from the bed without risk of dying from the effort, six had two broken legs and walked on crutches, and two had to wear neck casts just to stand safely.

Most had to be bandaged to prevent bleeding from the slashes that had been given by the swords of the son of Kronos. That did not include Thalia and Phoebe but it did include at least a dozen of the Hunters. Only one thing was really mutual about more than ten of the Hunters: every single Hunter except Thalia had been knocked unconscious during the fight. Chiron looked over the Hunters of Artemis and saw that their situation was very grim.

He even looked grim when he saw how everything was with the Hunters of Artemis. "I'm calling a Council meeting, the leaders of each Cabin will need to see me at the Big Cabin in six hours. That should be enough time for all the Cabin leaders to come in and listen to Thalia's prognosis on the situation with the son of Kronos," he declared. I agreed and decided to stay in the Hades cabin until it was time for the meeting.

After all, I needed some time alone to ponder what had happened and why it happened. Not only that but there was the fact that it happened in almost the blink of an eye. First, it looked as though I was going to destroy the demigod then he turned the tables on me and destroyed all of my artillery and my soldiers. Apparently my father was thinking similar thoughts since he came to visit me shortly after I had settled down in my bed in the Hades Cabin.

"I see you survived your encounter with my half-brother. Tell me, how it is fighting someone whose only flaw is that he is mortal?" he asked. I tried to explain that I did the best I could to destroy that demigod but he stopped me. "Your sister would have been better than that because hey, she would not have attacked the son of Kronos if she knew she could do nothing," Dad said.

"I had to at least buy time for Thalia and the others to be loaded on to the cars and escape. Even if I didn't make it myself, I would have seen to it that Thalia and her Hunters lived to fight another day," I replied. "What difference does it make? Zeus is _furious _at me for your actions against a servant of Olympus!" Dad shouted.

I had nothing to say so he asked me how I intended to explain what I had done. "Maybe I will wait until the meeting and then explain what I did and why," I said. "Oh that will be a sight to behold, Zeus will surely be watching you explain yourself at the Camp," my dad mocked. "So he is indeed a servant of Olympus and not of the Titans?" I asked.

"Why would I say it if it was not true? A god seldom says things that are not true unless there is a very good reason for it," my father answered. "But dad, surely there is a good reason that you and the other gods never revealed this servant to us before," I said. "Now you're thinking, now you're really thinking about things correctly," my dad said sarcastically.

"Well why wasn't revealed to us before the fight with Kronos?" I pressed. "We didn't reveal him because we felt that it was not yet time for him to be revealed. You see, we wanted him more for cleanup work after the war with the Titans since he was good at that. Besides, he could have single-handedly fought the war for you so what glory would any of you have had?" my dad explained.

Now I understood why my father was mad: I had attacked a servant of Olympus that the gods had intended to keep secret until the time was right. Because of this, I now understood that I had to apologize to the gods for the damage that I had done. Six hours passed and it was time for the Council meeting with all the leaders of the Cabins of Camp Half-Blood including the new ones like Hades, Nemesis, and Morpheus. Once we all arrived at the new meeting chamber that Chiron had built to accommodate us all, the meeting began with Thalia delivering her report first.

"From what I gathered before the fight, this demigod's name is Gabriel Johnson and he is a secret servant of the Olympians. He even has a group he serves called the 'Special Five' by his decree. As to which five gods he serves, I do not know yet and I am not sure that we will be finding out for a long while if we are to find out at all. He also mentions that he harbors a grudge against the Titans for some deeds they did to him long ago and thus, he is in the service of the gods until he can get revenge.

"This is all the information I have from before the fight but let me ask the Council this question. No doubt we have met powerful entities before but when was the last time that one demigod stood to the full might of one god or goddess' cabin and held his own? Not only hold his own but also has given twenty-five people injuries that could have been permanent in ways that would have killed at least four mortal people. Considering that he normally only attacks servants of the Titans and the Titans themselves, such power should not be allowed to fall into their hold," she explained.

"I agree, this Gabriel Johnson could change the entire tide of any war we may fight later on," Annabeth said. "If the Council does not mind I would like to make a public apology that the 'Special Five' and Zeus are probably watching. After all, I took drastic action to make sure that the Hunters of Artemis and the children of Apollo made it back to Camp," I said. When Chiron nodded, I confessed to having tried to destroy the demigod and apologized for my actions because they were too extreme.

"May the gods look on your apology and accept it," Chiron said. "No, may Gabriel Johnson here this apology and accept it," I replied. "A wise reply for someone normally so brash," Thalia agreed. I did not even look at her as I knew the way she was probably patronizing me for my actions.

Since she was a daughter of Zeus but was a Lieutenant of Artemis, we asked Phoebe to represent Artemis while Thalia stepped up to represent her father. That's besides the point but when I sat back down to represent Hades, Percy suggested a move that I thought was intriguing. "May I suggest, with Chiron's permission, that we create a diplomatic search party to find the servant of Kronos and invite him to join us. We can even given him a written apology from Nico if it means having him join us," he suggested.

"I'm terrible at writing, last time I checked. Could we perhaps type it in some manner or have someone write it for me?" I asked. Chiron chuckled and decided that maybe that would work if nothing else would. "Tell me something Thalia," Drew of the Aphrodite cabin said.

"Yes Drew, what is it that you want me to tell you?" Thalia asked. "Was he a handsome fellow?" Drew answered. "I didn't get a good look at him because he was mostly hidden by his armor but what I saw of him hinted that to me. That's about as much of an answer as I can give you at the moment," Thalia said.

"Why is it that you're always asking whether or not that a possible arrival may be handsome?" Clarisse of the Ares cabin asked. "Until I find my perfect man, I will never know who he is. That's why I ask about all the new male arrivals, is there a problem with that?" Drew replied. No one had a reply to that one and Chiron decided to close the meeting before it turned into just a bunch of bickering kids.


	5. Nico: Reuniting with Friends

**Nico:**

**Reuniting with my friends once again**

The only people I was looking forward to see after the meeting were Annabeth and Percy. They both had enough sensibility not to patronize me just because I was a son of Hades like Thalia did. Speaking of Percy and Annabeth, I caught them when they were walking down to the river with interlocked hands. "Hey Percy, Annabeth, hope I am not interrupting anything but I needed some friends to hang out with," I said.

"Actually Nico, we do have a few minutes to spare but we would like some private time with each other before dinner tonight. So soon as we want you to leave, we will let you know okay?" Annabeth replied. I nodded and shrugged but in the end I agreed to their terms and I truthfully didn't care right then. "Can you tell me what weapons you used in your fight against the demigod son of Kronos named Gabriel?" Annabeth asked.

"I used at least half a dozen souls of WWII soldiers, all of whom were armed to the teeth as well as a U.S.S carrier cannon. Oh and I used some Civil War-era Gatling guns as well a couple cannons from the Revolutionary War. Does that help you understand the demigod's power if that was your goal?" I explained. "That helps but so much artillery and he survived virtually unscathed… such incredible power," Annabeth said.

"It's hard for me to believe as well, but I don't think it has to do with his own power as much as his armor," I said. Percy asked what I meant and I knew I had to elaborate. "There was a legendary suit of armor said to have been worn by Achilles himself and was given to Odysseus when he died. The gods granted him this armor because he had lost his original suit when his cousin Patroclus stole it to lead the Greeks to victory and was killed by Hector," I answered.

When Percy and Annabeth told me to go on, I made sure to do that. "This suit was said to be invincible against any weapon forged by man although Achilles was already invincible with the notable exception of his heel. He destroyed Hector with this armor on but when he was struck down by Paris, Odysseus took the armor after winning a debate with Ajax the Greater. However, the suit was lost at sea during the return trip to Ithaca when Odysseus' men profaned Apollo's sacred herd of cattle by slaughtering some of its members for food.

"Because the armor was lost at sea and Odysseus was forced to return home without it, it was thought that this incredible shell created by the gods was lost to time. But if my suspicion is confirmed, the gods may have had other plans for that suit of armor and may have even modified it for the demigod to use," I finished. I added that I really hoped that I was wrong about my suspicion about the incredible armor's whereabouts. Because I truly hoped that it was still at the bottom of the Aegean Sea in Greece where it had been last seen or had rot away.

"That may be a lead onto how he survived but at the same time, where's a lead on why he is so vengeful toward the Titans. And that's probably the greatest mystery we have on our hands," Percy said. "Not just random Titans, Titans connected to Olympus are on his okay-list. That just narrowed out a whole bunch I could name but there are those who betrayed Zeus three weeks ago like Prometheus along with his brother or Oceanus, one of those Titans," Annabeth agreed.

"But what could they ever have done to a son of their lord and master to turn him against them? The Titans would be needing every single powerful weapon they can get right about now with us emerging victorious," I asked. "Who knows, I will have to look into that as soon as I have the time," Annabeth answered.

I guessed it was time for me to leave the two of them alone and they told me I was correct. It was good that I got to hang out with them for a little while and get some of my thoughts out to at least one of my friends but having two to do that to was awesome. I watched as they sat down under a tree and Percy lied down on it first before Annabeth sat on his lap with her back facing him. The good thing was I was not interested in their romancing so I turned to head to my cabin before I was called to dinner.

I truthfully felt like being alone for a little bit at least but then a Hermes kid called me over. As it turned out the Stoll brothers, who now led the cabin with the treachery and death of Luke, wanted to speak to me about the demigod. Travis wanted to know if the son of Kronos was going to be staying in the Hermes cabin with them. Connor just wanted to know if he would be an easy person to steal from.

"To answer your question Travis, I think he'll be staying in the cabin that honors his present master. As for Connor's question, if he winds up staying in the Hermes cabin I would not count on him being easy to steal from. For one thing he is a son of Kronos and for another, he's been in the service of the gods probably too long to be tricked by a child of Hermes," I answered.

They seemed pretty upset but that didn't matter much to me. When Hermes kids were not protecting the Camp or Olympus from Titan forces, they were pests who always looked for ways to pull off a prank or steal something. That's what I reminded myself about when suddenly, a big horn blew off and everyone was called for Chiron's special announcement. In no time, the demigods of Camp Half-Blood gathered around in the amphitheater to hear what Chiron had to say about anything.

When everyone had their seats (mine a few seats from Percy, Thalia, and Annabeth), the announcements came in. "Demigods of Camp Half-Blood, may I have your attention please?" Chiron asked. Everyone silenced themselves at once since it was more interesting to listen to Chiron then Mr. D, our godly supervisor. "By now, many have heard of the rumors about a demigod son of Kronos," Chiron began.

I gulped because there was a good chance that he would mention my actions. "I shall confirm that these rumors are all true, the demigod exists. Thalia Grace and Nico di Angelo have already seen but a small portion of his power when they fought him two days ago and can tell you more about it. But that is not why I have called all of you Campers here today.

"Today, I would like to welcome someone who needs no introduction from the Artemis Hunters or from the Hades Cabin. I brought you all here to welcome my half-brother, Gabriel Johnson to Camp Half-Blood. His present master is none other than the Olympian goddess Hera so he shall be staying in her Cabin unless he chooses to stay somewhere else. Please welcome my half-brother, Gabriel Ladon Johnson!" Chiron announced.

Gabriel, who turned out to be the golden-armored demigod we had fought, stepped up to the stage and shook Chiron's hand. "Dionysus has already tutored him around Camp Half-Blood so here he is to speak to you today," Chiron said. Gabriel then took Chiron's place at the speaker's spot "Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen of Camp Half-Blood," Gabriel began.

"Hey, I heard you kicked Thalia Grace's butt! The Ares cabin welcomes you to stay and share space with the children of War anytime," Clarisse La Rue of the Ares Cabin shouted. "Thanks, perhaps I will take your offer sometime but anyway, I know I've already met some of you on the wrong end of my swords and would like to publicly apologize. I was on a diplomatic mission however, I made little effort to keep it diplomatic and was chastised for it by Lady Hestia.

"If the Artemis Cabin is willing to accept my apology, will the leader stand up and say so now? And after she has accepted it, will the leader of the Hades Cabin also stand up to accept this apology?" Gabriel asked. Thalia stood up, the light shining on her and said that both Artemis and Zeus forgave his violent actions. Then it was my turn to stand up and I did so quickly.

"Hades forgives your actions against his children. However, I must say that my father was quite furious when he found out I attacked you," I said. Everyone around me had a good laugh from that comment and I stepped down quickly. "Glad to hear we have settled the old score diplomatically and now, I would like to take a moment to answer any and all questions that anyone else may have about me. Please try to refrain from questions like 'Can you sleep in our cabin tonight?' or 'Would like to sleep with us in our cabin?'" Gabriel said in a tone that had the Hermes kids laughing.

That eliminated any questions Drew Beauregard had for him but not any that some of the other cabins had. "Hey Gabriel, can you sing or play an instrument?" Will Solace, the leader of the Apollo Cabin asked. "Well, I was part of my high school choir before I took up service to the gods and was one of the best there but I doubt I'm as good as you guys," Gabriel answered. "How strong would you say you are with just one arm?" Jake Mason from the Hephaestus cabin asked.

"I can throw a full-grown Cyclops over my head off a cliff with just one hand if you mean wrestling. If you mean weight, I could probably life an entire battleship its weight in solid gold with just one hand," Gabriel answered. I probably went pale at that point even though I couldn't see it but murmurs rustled through the crowd, murmurs of exclamation and even fear. "Can you teach us to fight the way you do?" Annabeth asked.

"I can _try _to teach you but I can absolutely guarantee that even if my skills brought out the best in all of you, it won't make you more powerful than me. You all might have power but I have years of experience and on top of that I have been trained by the gods themselves. That's something you people would kill for here at Camp Half-Blood, believe me," Gabriel answered. "How fast can you run?" Travis Stoll asked.

"If I really needed to risk overexerting myself, I could run faster than light itself. However, I usually prefer to teleport to destinations that would require that kind of speed," Gabriel answered. "Are you good at avoiding having a prank played on you or being stolen from?" Connor Stoll asked. "You have got to be kidding me; if it were survival and you were trying to steal my supplies, you'd be dead before you touched them," Gabriel answered.

The Ares cabin laughed in an uproar of joy and pleasure knowing that little fun fact. I knew that this was probably not the perfect time ask my question but I knew I had no choice. "Gabriel, where in all that is sacred, did you obtain that golden armor?" I asked. There was a sudden silence in the crowd as Gabriel tried to figure out how to answer that one.

"Let me put it this way: when you're in the service of the gods, you can ask anyone of them for a favor related to your task," Gabriel answered. "So you asked Hephaestus to forge that armor for you?" I inquired. "Yeah I did, he was in the mood for forging this since he had a prototype that he couldn't give me," Gabriel calmly replied. So the gods had indeed recovered the armor first granted to Achilles then Odysseus but it could not be used for anything except blueprints!

"Anymore questions before I go off this stage and have to keep you all waiting until dinner to talk to me again?" Gabriel asked. Nobody had any questions left so the announcement had ended as well as the conference with the demigod son of Kronos. I went to my seat at the dining pavilion and hoped that the hearty eating would take my mind off what had transpired.

As fate would have it, I was not the only one with that thought racing through my head as Percy and Thalia each to their place at the Poseidon and Zeus seats respectively. I shouted across to Thalia and asked why she wasn't sitting with her fellow Hunters. "Truthfully, I just need time to myself and I hope the demigod son of Kronos will come to me when if I'm alone," she replied. I nodded, admiring the fact that she would even consider offering our new uncle a seat by her side.

Slowly, the demigods of all cabins trickled in. The noise level increased with the arrival of more and more until at last, all twenty-one tables had occupied seats. Chiron sat at his own separate seat and Mr. D sat with his children at the Dionysus table. Once everyone was in the dining pavilion and had made their offers to their patron god or goddess, we awaited Gabriel's arrival.

We made sure not to keep too quiet so as not to arouse him to the fact that we were waiting to see who he would sit with tonight. Then he came in about two or three minutes later, took what he wanted from the line of food, offered his best piece to the gods, and looked around slowly but surely for a place to sit. He probably guessed that it was normally forbidden for demigods to intermingle with one another at the dining pavilion since he didn't tell us to try to entice him over to their table. Then he surprised by verbally telling us his choice for tonight's session of dinner: "Oh that's right, Annabeth wants to interview me; guess I've decided who I'm gonna sit with."

No doubt, he was agitated by us watching him even after he sat down when he turned around and told us to resume mingling and eating. "Where are we, the Underworld? I've never seen a crowd of so many teenagers so silent since that trip I made to retrieve Cerberus from Asphodel," he added. We all turned to our food and returned to mingling if we had anybody to mingle with but I could just talk to Percy since he was across from me and the tables were sized for just each of us.

"I'm surprised he chose to go with the Athena cabin tonight. Hey, I'm even more surprised to hear him say that Annabeth had to interview him. It's like something out of CNN or Fox News with her," I said. "Well, like any child of Athena, she does have an insatiable appetite to learn everything she can about everything," Percy replied.

I nodded in agreement and asked him if he had the same desire. "In my case, I only learn what I need to learn to get by and at this camp that's a lot," Percy said. I agreed that I was a bit the same way, which came as a surprise to me considering my natural age. But for now, I returned to the business of eating and let Fate play itself out for right now.


	6. Annabeth: Research & Unexpected Help

**Annabeth:**

**Doing a little research into the past (with some unexpected help)**

Yes, I had requested an interview with Gabriel in private but I was surprised at how quick he was to respond to it. "I'm sorry to have made the request, from the look of it you had a rough past," I said when he sat down. "That's why I accepted your request, so that the demigods of Camp Half-Blood could understand my position as servant of Olympus a bit better," Gabriel said. I got out a pen and some paper from my notebook and told him to proceed whenever he was ready but to go slow so I could catch it all.

After the interview, I gathered the information that he had given me and that encompassed eighteen pages of my notebook. He was born in Duarte, Los Angeles to a woman who he only remembered as "Mary" and his father Kronos. His uncle was an alcoholic, which made life as his foster son a tragic beginning for Gabriel. When he was nine, his aunt introduced him to his paternal family and he had nearly fainted from finding out that they were the gods of Olympus and the preceding Titans.

He lived amongst them for two years since even when he was sober, Gabriel's uncle still tended to be abusive. When he returned, his uncle accepted him with open arms and called him his son like he had hoped would happen. He needed son badly since he already had two younger daughters by his wife and they were a handful. Gabriel's maternal family (when they didn't die of old age or disease first) were amongst the first mortal casualties of the Titans king Kronos' return to power and his uncle found himself having to pay for the funerals of his family almost every other month.

His uncle, cousins, and aunt were the last of his maternal family to die and they had died right in front of his eyes, a year after he had been accepted. The day of their deaths was a day where they tried to be happy in spite of all the damage had been done by the Titans. On that day, it was cloudy with little chance of rain and Oceanus had started an uprising in the waters below. So the seas and oceans were a little against them as they sailed their yacht on one of their pleasure cruises that they took whenever they could.

The oceans were not the problem so much as what was above them on that day. Gabriel's uncle had gone down below deck to get some soda for Gabriel and his cousins when something fell from the sky toward them. As it turned out, it appeared to be a meteor but it turned out to be a Titan that was coming down in the form of a meteor. They saw nothing of the immortal himself before he crash into the yacht and bent it completely in half.

The rear half exploded since it was the engine side and the gasoline had been ignited. Meanwhile, the front half was sinking with Gabriel's uncle, aunt, and his eldest cousin trapped in it after he saved the youngest. One of the leftover boards of wood from the rear half was big enough for both Gabriel and his youngest cousin to lie down on it and safely float across the southeastern Pacific for as long as they needed to. For four days, the two of them floated safely across the ocean before his cousin succumbed to a heat stroke and died.

The Titan who had attacked them three days before watched as Gabriel pushed his cousin's body off his platform of wood. Below, sharks had waited since the beginning until some food had dropped in and Gabriel looked up to that Titan just to avoid watching his sister become lunch to them. The only thing that kept Gabriel from thinking that it was the Titan Iapetus was the fact that this Titan had a scar that looked like he had been bitten by some predatory bird along his chest and stomach. For several long moments, the two of them exchanged eye contact and Gabriel knew that this Titan would be his enemy for as long as he lived.

After the exchange of eye contact, the Titan vanished and left Gabriel floating for another week before he was found by a fisherman. Though barely alive at that point, Gabriel's anger and hatred of the Titan kept him alive long enough for him to reach a hospital in San Diego and recover. When he got out of the hospital, Hestia returned to him and made him a proposition: he would be given the power to take revenge against the Titans, especially that one, in exchange for serving five gods of his choice for a year each. From what I can gather, he is in the late part of his final year in service to the gods and from what he has said, he hopes for an early chance to avenge his family and live the rest of his days in peace.

His service to the gods has been one of the best things that has happened to him in spite of the high prices he has had to pay for it. First, he would often suffer flashbacks of the day when his uncle, aunt, and cousins were killed by the Titans. Next, he would suffer a fit of madness in which he would be only satisfied if he bedded a woman within the next few hours. Finally, he would fall asleep feeling ashamed of what he had done and hope for a better day.

But since these were not prices that the gods made him pay, he was perfectly content with serving them in spite of his own personal pain. He told me that he knew for certain that it would all go away on the day he caught up with that Titan and killed him. And this Titan, he said, was the bringer of fire and the benefactor of mankind and that made it even more thrilling for him. This brought alarm in me because then I knew who he wanted revenge against more than anyone: Prometheus himself.

Gabriel vowed to kill Prometheus before he died as well as any other Titans, monsters, or mortals who got in his way. I thanked him for relaying the information over to me before I saw him leave the Athena table and (unbelievably) walk over to the Aphrodite table. But not before he went to get seconds on food since he apparently had a bigger appetite than most people. He also knocked himself out on infinite amounts (thanks to the magic grails) of RC Cola.

Drew Beauregard, leader of the Aphrodite cabin, made the first moves on him and he accepted her advances. That led me to guess that he was on the verge of going into a fit of madness unless he found a woman to sleep with. The good thing was that I was not his target but the bad thing was that his target was a masochist for pleasure (so to speak). With research in hand, I went to Chiron and asked him how much he already knew about his half-brother Gabriel.

"I know everything Annabeth because I was one of the immortal beings who raised him. Fortunately, I was also one of the doctors who saw to his recovery by smuggling in nectar and ambrosia from Camp Half-Blood," Chiron said to me. I had to admit that it was an impressive feat for Chiron to pass as a doctor but with his magical wheelchair and his ability to manipulate the Mist, anything was possible. "Does he… remember you from when you helped him recover from his near-death experience?" I asked.

"He does because he has a natural ability to see through the Mist, more natural than any demigod here. It would make even the keenest of demigods look blind," Chiron said. That really surprised me then I asked Chiron if it was really necessary for him to play out his earthly pleasures upon the daughters of Aphrodite. "His heart is one full of grief that is only temporarily covered up by those pleasures and it's much better than having him smuggle alcohol for certain," Chiron answered, his face filled with sadness as he said it.

Then I saw a sight that I didn't think I would be seeing: a tear dropping from Chiron's eye. "You love your brother don't you?" I asked. Chiron nodded but showed only slight surprise that I had figured that out. "That's why I hope he's granted an early victory in his quest for revenge or an early death," Chiron added.

"How do you know an early death will spare him misery? Hades may choose to put him in Tartarus," I asked. "Hades can try but Hestia will not let that happen to him without a fight," Chiron answered. "So that's who he presently serves!" I shouted, having figured it out at last. "Actually he serves Hera but does answer to Hestia, Helios, Selene, and Eos," Chiron told me after shaking his head.

All five of those names surprised me but Hera was the one who sparked the most old memories. For a whole year, her sacred cows dropped nice little presents on my dad's lawn without us being able to stop them. And that was only for a small case of truth I put on her in the Labyrinth last year. "Well Chiron, I wish you good night and I think I'll make a prayer that when he-has fun- he doesn't shake the whole campground," I said.

Chiron chuckled and assured me that he would not be doing that. I sighed in relief but I was not entirely sure I wanted to be relieved by that. Nonetheless, I walked to my cabin in content with myself and the fact that there was good chance I would still be having a peaceful sleep. Malcolm agreed with me on that and asked if it might be possible for me to lend him Daedalus' laptop for a project he was doing. I gave him the laptop then went to the bunk I slept in and quietly put myself to sleep for the night.

While Malcolm worked on his project with the instructions on the laptop, I slept and dreamed dreams that I have never had before. In the dream, my vision was narrowed by a helmet of ancient design and I had a spear pointing in front of me towards an (as yet) unknown enemy. But then, the enemy came into my line of sight in the form of an unidentified soldier with a strange design that I had never seen before. He kept attacking me then shouted something strange: "For the Titans!" and insisted on his attack.

I was very lucky to have been able to kill him but as it turned out, it was an undead soldier. Endless hordes of undead soldiers attacked from every angle and I noticed that I was surrounded by soldiers who were not even Greek. One of them shouted "For Troy!" and I knew instantly that I was fighting with Trojans. I faded into the background because I noticed that I was carrying a sack with something of value inside it.

It had the weight of a massive jewel and one of the Trojan soldiers told me to escape the ruins of Troy before it was too late. But that did not make sense: the _ruins _of Troy? Was I in modern time or was I in the ancient days. As fate would have it, I was in the modern time and I was carrying a suit of armor out of the ruins of Troy. I ran for the ancient ruins of the Trojan gate, dodging undead enemies serving the Titans and occasionally being saved by Trojan soldiers.

I escaped with minimal casualties to my person but by the end of that same week, the Trojans had been wiped out. After running far enough away, I undid the bag and donned on the armor. I was curious to see what it felt like and whether it fit me or not. It not only fit me perfectly but also gave me a surge of power unlike anything that I have ever felt before.

It truly was a jewel in its own right and I wielded the armor alongside unbeatable martial arts and equally powerful skills in swordplay. It felt good until I came across a woman and she was crying for a reason I could not quite understand. Then she surprised me and said that she loved me but she did not want to see me leave. "I will never leave you," I said but in a man's voice rather than my own.

Without any control over myself, I placed a hand (not my own but the hand of a man) on her face and attempted to sooth her. Then I turned, lacking control over this man's body but apparently seeing what he was seeing. A woman, no doubt a goddess of Olympus from her aura, appeared in the doorway with a menacing intent in her voice. "You have two choices hero: return to service, your crime will be forgiven and she will be spared from my wrath.

"But choose to stay with her and your crime will not be forgiven. It will follow you even in death, giving you no peace and carrying you to Tartarus right next to the Titans' place of punishment! As for the girl, she will be amusement in beginning the end of what little peace you ever had," the goddess explained. I knew I couldn't let it happen and apparently, this body knew he couldn't let it happen either.

So the man took the steps toward the goddess and he was redeemed for his sin against the gods. I woke up, sweating and my heart thumping harder than it usually did. In fact, it was thumping so hard that I could literally hear it beating in my ears. "You okay Annabeth?" Malcolm asked.

"I just had a bad dream that's all," I said. "Annabeth, you are my half-sister and the leader of the Athena cabin. I want no secrets from you please tell me what's going on," he replied. I told him the dream and he grimaced, guessing that it somehow applied to Gabriel and I knew I had to find him or Percy tomorrow.

The next day…

"There's a disturbance in the oceans and Poseidon wishes for four demigods from our camp. I have selected Gabriel as one of them to initiate him into the Camp and I have selected Percy Jackson since he would guarantee everyone else protection in his father's domain," Chiron explained. "If it's not too much to ask Chiron, I too would like to go on this mission. Gabriel and I were only acquainted in the sense of reporter and subject of interview yesterday," I said.

"Annabeth Chase, take your place beside Percy if you wish to go and the next one to step up may take his or her place beside Gabriel," Chiron said. To my surprise, Thalia decided that she would join but not for anything related to Gabriel. "While my Hunters are recovering, I will be in need of something to do now that my arm has healed," she explained. She also added that she would be amongst friends if she went on this mission with me, Percy, and Gabriel.

"Then it is decided that Perseus Jackson of the Poseidon Cabin, Thalia Grace of the Zeus and Artemis cabins, Annabeth Chase of the Athena Cabin, and Gabriel Johnson of the Hera Cabin shall go to visit Poseidon. I sadly fear the worst for the domain of the seas but that is what you four are assigned to confirm," Chiron declared. "My dear brother, I love you but I love it even more when you try to revive the Greek theatrical style of speaking," Gabriel said. Everyone chuckled but we were soon on our way.


	7. Percy: Not So Fine Reunion with Father

**Percy:**

**A-not-so fine reunion with my father in his Palace and more answers**

Once again, I had to visit my father's palace in the sea under bad circumstances but it looked good for once. My brother Tyson was out with a patrol so he was not able to come see that I was here yet but I could wait. This matter was much more pressing and had to be dealt with first before I could have any charming family reunions. Amphitrite welcomed us into the Palace once we arrived and even made it dry for my friends to walk around.

"Hello Percy, may I be introduced to your friends?" Amphitrite asked. "Sure, this is my friend Annabeth, daughter of Athena. This is Thalia, daughter of Zeus and lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis and this is Gabriel, lieutenant of the Hera cabin but truly a son of you-know-who," I answered. She knew who I was talking about by the look I probably wore, which whispered the name Kronos to her.

"Ah, the son of Kronos and we meet at last! I do not understand why but I have always absent whenever you have been in my palace," Amphitrite stated, startled that the son of Kronos was here. "Maybe Poseidon willed it that way, you should ask him next time you two are alone," Gabriel replied. "Percy, allow me to show you to your father and your friends can wait in the lobby while you discuss business with him," Amphitrite requested.

Besides Gabriel, everyone looked like they needed my assurance that everything was probably going to be all right. "Don't try and assure me that you'll be all right, I already know it without even needing oracular vision," Gabriel replied to me. They gathered in the lobby where a feast was being prepared for them as they sat down to enjoy it. Let me tell you, my friend Grover would have been all over this food if he had seen it and so would I if I could stay for it.

Everything was blue, the way I liked it, even the candy that came with it at the end. Blue ham, blue cheese (and I don't mean that stuff that looks like it has a lot of mold in it), blue everything like I had said before. Soon, I arrived at my father's throne room after traveling through some winding hallways and arriving at a door that looked like it took ten Cyclopes to open. After I went inside, I said hello to my dad and asked him what he needed us to do for him.

"Oceanus, the Titan of the oceans and seas, has aroused his wife Tethys and colleague Nereus to his side in another attempt to take the throne of the oceans once again. I need you and your friends to find where he is staying and either try to settle this score and get his rebellion silenced or you silence him entirely," my dad explained.

"But why silence him when we can negotiate a treaty with him?" I asked. "Because then I would show weakness by relinquishing some of my realm back to its old ruler. I am either going to destroy him or I am going to give him back his realm and I am not about to do the latter," my dad answered. To me, that didn't clear things up much better but I guess sin the long run, I was better off not knowing the full story.

"Oh Percy, if you're worried about fighting Oceanus or having to kill him then turn him over to your friend Gabriel for execution. He's killed Titans before with little to no effort whatsoever," my dad blurted out suddenly. I already knew about Gabriel's quest for revenge thanks to Annabeth but that was something I had never heard before. Maybe it had to do with the dream I had last night with me being another man and having to leave a woman behind.

"That's right Percy, ask him why he is _still _in the service of the Special Five in spite of the fact that they promised him a chance at revenge, five years ago," my dad said. I thanked him for the suggestion and assured him that either way, Oceanus would be dealt with before too long. "I hope so boy, I sure to hope so," my dad said.

I returned to my friends after that, briefed them on the mission, then created a bubble of air so that we could all travel to Oceanus' rebuilt palace. Along the way, I ran into conflict about whether I should or shouldn't ask Gabriel why he was still in service to the gods. Then I decided to wait until we were alone to ask him and hopefully find out why he was still in service. Unfortunately, my opportunity came a little too soon because we arrived at Oceanus' Palace in a few minutes and then it was time to split up.

Our plan was to encircle Oceanus from all directions with Thalia and Annabeth going one way while Gabriel and I took another. It was here that I decided to ask why he was still in the service, apparently against his will from what my father said. "So Gabe, can you tell me why you still serve the gods if you wish only to leave and kill Prometheus on your own terms?" I asked. He looked at me like he was as likely to run me through his swords as to tell me then calmed down and decided it was better getting it off his chest.

"It began almost a year ago when I found this suit of armor that I presently wear on my body," he started. "I found it in the ruins of Troy as part of a mission to take the remaining riches of Troy from the ruin that the Greeks had left behind after the war. By this time, anything of value was likely to have been buried under sand for at least three thousand years but I found the armor in the remains of the Trojan Palace. Using the powers of a jewel I had at that time, I summoned a battalion of Trojan soldiers to cover my exit when my father Kronos had sent two thousand undead soldiers to stop me.

"After I escaped, I discovered the armor's defense capacities and was so blown away that I decided to use it to make the world a better place for mankind to live in. For four months, I fought against crime with the armor unnoticed and unvisited by my present mistress, Hera. After that, I tried to live out a normal life and forget about my grudge against Prometheus. I figured that it was time to let go of that childish hatred and carve out a new existence for myself in spite of having no family.

"I was one of those citizens in Turkey who married young and had a wonderful wife. She was two months pregnant when Hera returned for me and demanded that I return to service. If I did, my crime of bailing out of my service would be forgiven and my wife would go unharmed. However, if I did not return to service then she would see to it that my crime pursued me even after death and she would make me killed my wife as well as the little one inside her. I would normally have not submitted to Hera since she was my half-sister and I did not deserve this but because I love my wife too much, I agreed to go back into service under her wing.

"Believe it or not Percy but I'm actually overdue for the end of my service. I made up the four months of my absence first then served the final eight months of my expected servitude to Hera. But she has refused to let me go, even when she and four other gods swore that I would serve them for five years (one for each year) in return for a chance at revenge against Prometheus," he explained. "Have Hestia, Helios, Eos, or Selene spoken out against her?" I asked.

"They've tried but at present, the four of them can do nothing directly against her. So they're trying to consult Zeus and have him tell her to release me since she always answers to him in the end," Gabriel answered. "I hope it all works out to help you later on and if you need anything from me, Thalia, or Annabeth, please do not hesitate to ask," I said. "I need something of you right now: duck your head right now because Oceanus is launching a cannonball against us," Gabriel replied.

I obeyed and he did the same as me, seeing a cannonball (sure enough) whistle over us. "Talk about a trap that you don't see until it's too late," I said rhetorically. "There's a good reason Annabeth calls you Seaweed Brain, isn't that true?" Gabriel teased. I nodded in agreement and soon we arrived to the throne room of Oceanus' underwater palace.

Annabeth and Thalia had already reached the front of the throne and were trying to distract Oceanus from our presence. But just when we were about to attack, his wife Tethys saw us alerted her husband to our presence. Nereus cowered away from me since I had defeated him before and tried to take on Annabeth. Meanwhile, Tethys tried to take me on and Gabriel moved in behind Oceanus while Thalia attacked him head on.

And just when we thought we had victory, Oceanus, Tethys, and Nereus joined hands. At first, I thought they were gonna sing a song but then Tethys and Nereus began to glow with a light I had never seen before. After that, they fell to the ground and were obviously dead from how they were positioned as well as the fact that they turned to water. I knew because that's what my father told me when I asked him about what happens to sea gods when they died but Oceanus looked thrilled.

"Great, he's combined the power of himself, Tethys, and Nereus all in one body. As if fighting the three of them individually wasn't bad enough," Gabriel stated. "Yes son of Kronos, I have done just that and now I will destroy all four of you!" Oceanus shouted. "If I were you Annabeth, I'd take Percy and try to flank him at both sides," Gabe whispered.

She nodded and called me to go to the right of Oceanus while she took the left. Thalia would sneak behind and Gabe would take him directly this time and boy was it a strategy. For a long time it worked, especially with Gabe pounding the Titan's head in with the powers of a god up there in power with my dad or even my uncle Zeus. Thalia took him down from the rear, stabbing from behind his knees.

Annabeth and I struck at his side just beneath the underarm whenever we could. It seemed to bring him down quickly but then he called in his army that had originally been sent to attack my dad's palace. Soon, we were surrounded by thousands of undead soldiers then Gabe took a flare that Amphitrite had given him and ignited it, sending it into the oceans above the palace. "What did you do that for?" I asked.

"If we can trust Amphitrite to her word, it should send your brother Tyson and his army of Cyclops from anywhere in the ocean to help us. Might I add that they will also be coming at a high velocity and arrive here in a few minutes if she keeps true to her word?" Gabe answered. I nodded and thought that that was not a bad idea to consider since it was probably the only one we could consider to keep ourselves alive.

Oceanus lied where he had fallen, wounded and coughing up ichor. "Gabriel Johnson, yours are definitely the powers of Kronos but I cannot let you live. My army is here to ensure that you never escape but I wish to finish you off myself," the Titan said. "You can't fight with the leg wound Thalia gave you, you know that right?" Gabe asked.

"Mighty is the power of Prometheus though nothing like your father's power. Master, command the oceans to give me one last surge of power to finish them!" Oceanus shouted. At first, nothing happened then Prometheus responded by appearing in person although he did not look too happy about it. "Master, aid me now as I once aided you in your flight to the Olympians," Oceanus begged.

"However thankful I may be for that you have failed me and you know the punishment for failure, don't you?" Prometheus asked. Oceanus looked frightened and rightfully so as Prometheus produced a fireball in his hand and threw it at his fellow Titan's head. In an instant, a massive chunk of Oceanus' head was gone and he died almost instantly. All that remained of the Titan of the seas was just a massive pool of water by the time that his death was complete and official.

"As for all these soldiers, I think I'll see if they can take the glory in striking all four of you down. Especially you son of Kronos since it seems you won't be taking up the chance to take your father's place and be better than him anytime soon," Prometheus said. "I would sooner die than be your figurehead and indirectly continue your hold of the Titans until it was time for me to be disposed of," Gabe hissed. "So be it, soldiers of Orthys, destroy them!" Prometheus ordered.

Before leaving, he added that it was such a pity Gabe would not be joining the Titans since he would have spared me, Annabeth, and Thalia if he did. "They could become your slaves and you could have your way with the girls with nary a worry or care. Wouldn't that be a nice change from being walked all over by the gods of Olympus?" Prometheus mocked before leaving at last. "Imagine the day when Prometheus fights his own battles, wouldn't that be a sight?" Gabe asked the empty air.

"Well, while you are furious at the fact that Prometheus is a coward and I agree, I don't think that it's going to get us out of this. Unless your words could magically destroy these undead soldiers, draconae, and demons," Annabeth said. "Form in a tight circle, we can defend each other that way," Thalia ordered. "Yeah but how would we get out of it, might I ask?" I asked.

"Does the phrase 'Element of Surprise' comes to mind, Seaweed Brain?" Thalia answered. I held Riptide close as Thalia put up her shield Aegis in front of herself and Gabe pointed his swords in opposite directions. Annabeth extended her knife with the blade in front like I extended Riptide to face the enemy. Nonetheless, the hordes of the Titans were getting bolder since their sheer number kept us from escaping.

"What now geniuses?" Thalia asked. "Working on it," Annabeth answered. "Already have an answer and we'll have to act on the count of three, we're gonna be running fast," Gabe said. We all turned in his direction, which was closer to the door out of the throne room and waited for him to count to three.

When he did count to three, he sent out a pulse of telekinesis that cleared a path far enough for us to reach the door. We ran as soon as he did that and headed for the door faster than we had ever run before. Unfortunately, we were stopped from completing our exit by the fact that these soldiers were quick to recover their grasp on us before we escaped. "Talk about a failed attempt to escape in the fashion of a James Bond film," Annabeth said.

"Percy, where the hell is your brother when we need him? Is he on his coffee break or something?" Gabe asked. I shrugged but then, I felt the ground beneath us shake.


	8. Percy: Tyson To The Rescue

**Percy:**

**My brother Tyson to the rescue and getting a special package from Mom**

The shaking meant only one thing: that my brother Tyson had responded to the flair that Gabriel had ignited earlier. "In the name of Poseidon!" I heard him shout just before he came and started bashing undead soldiers with his "stick" (his weapon given him by the gods when he was made the general of our dad's Cyclops army). I fought as hard as the Curse of Achilles allowed me to, harder than I had ever fought in my life.

Gabe, Thalia, and Annabeth had the same idea in their heads since Gabe was moving almost at the speed of light and Thalia was going mad with her spear. Annabeth was also going mad with her knife and we had a virtual feast out of destroying the hordes of the Titans. Tyson and his Cyclops soldiers also had some fun destroying the palace of Oceanus as well as smashing several hundred soldiers at a time with their feet. Then I saw something that I never thought I'd see: Annabeth, Thalia, and Gab all being grabbed by the Cyclopes and carried away.

Tyson scooped me underneath his arm as well and carried me out of the palace before it started to crumble. "Wait, what about your soldiers Tyson, you're not just gonna leave them behind are you?" I asked. "They will survive the destruction of the Palace with little to no injury but you won't if we don't get out of here soon," Tyson answered. I was suddenly hit by the fact that Tyson's speech seemed less childish than it had been when we last met though still relatively childish.

He had no doubt matured a bit since the last meeting we had together and I was sure glad to have that going for me right now. "Um, I don't think that's the only reason why you're carrying me like I'm some sort of baby," I said. "Look down at your leg and you'll see why," Tyson replied. To my surprise, I had an arrow in my leg and I knew that I was going to be out of the picture for a little while if not for the rest of the quest.

Sad to say this but the curse of Achilles does nothing to accelerate the healing of any wounds that might be obtained besides those blows taken to the weak spot. This was going to make me look bad at Camp but I knew that I had done a good enough part for this month. Think about it, I had helped my friends track down and defeat Oceanus before the Titan Prometheus showed up and finished him for us. Plus, I had helped settle a dispute that Oceanus was having with my father so all in a day's work for Percy Jackson.

Soon, we were above the waters and back at Camp Half-Blood having brought peace to my father's realm once again. It seemed as though Chiron knew what was happening since he and a caravan were ready to greet us when we returned. "Well done you four, Gabriel has completed his initiation by surviving the quest we sent him on with you, Annabeth, and Thalia!" he shouted. "Thanks but can we do something about the arrow in my leg before we celebrate?" I asked.

A stretcher was on its way with two kids from the Asclepius cabin carrying it and I was carefully placed on it. Soon I was back in my cabin with the two Asclepius kids, Jennifer and John, removing the arrow by first breaking off the sharp end then pulling the rest out my leg. I bit my lip to keep from screaming out in pain and Annabeth watched as the whole thing went on. "Talk about a tough demigod for not being a son of Zeus or Kronos," she teased.

I smiled back at her and told her to come closer when everyone had left us. "Truthfully, I don't know how to say this but-" I began. "You love me, don't you?" she asked, cutting me off in mid-sentence. I nodded and she kissed me like we had kissed three weeks before underwater.

"Hey Percy, your Momma sent you something from home and it says that she hopes you are safe and well," Tyson said, coming into the cabin shortly after Annabeth kissed me. "Can I see what's in it now please?" I asked. Tyson handed me the package and I had to admit that I loved it since it was wrapped in blue, just the way I liked my packages. There was an envelope stuck to the top and I carefully pulled it off of the box before opening it and reading the letter inside.

She had also sent me forty bucks, which also happened to be inside the envelope and that was an unusual gift. I put the money in my pocket and read the letter that I had unfolded. It said: _Dear Percy, I really miss you and I hope that I can see you again soon. _

_Paul and I are doing well, in fact, we're engaged to be married this October._

_ Can you believe that and guess what? He proposed to me while we were watching a movie in the living room! I hope you can come home and see our wedding because I am so excited that I even told the rest of our family and invited your father to come if he could. Anyway, enough about me; how are you and Annabeth doing?_

_ You two are such a cute couple and I really like her. The money is Paul's gift to you, he insisted that he give something to you that would be going with the package. Be sure to contact us as soon as you can and let us know how you're doing! I love you and I miss you!_

_Love,_

_Your mother Sally_

_P.S. All your favorite little goodies are inside the box if you know what I mean. _

I smiled and opened the package to see all the blue candy I could have ever wanted in my entire life. Annabeth and I shared some of the candy together as a little romantic experience that was different from what we normally did. But when it was all over, I really wished that I had not gone through it so quickly even if I did have help. That was because there was almost nothing left for later on while I recovered from the leg wound.

Thalia came in and asked how I was doing to which, I responded that I would live. "I thought you would say that and I also thought you'd like to know that Gabe and I are going to Mount Olympus in a few moments," she said. I stared at her like she was crazy and so did Annabeth but she assured us that she wasn't kidding around. "I'm not kidding, my father wants to make amends with me and he would also like to announce before all Olympus that Gabriel is free from Hera's service by his order," Thalia said.

"Percy, you don't mind if I give Gabriel a hug of congratulations when I see him, do you?" Annabeth asked. "Why would I fret about something like that? I'm not like some other stupid teenage boy who doesn't even let his girl give her best male friend a hug," I answered. Gabe came in just in time and Annabeth jumped on him, hugging him as hard as she could.

"I can't believe you're finally going to be free of the gods, congratulations!" she said. "Thanks, but I'm not _entirely _free of the gods just yet," he replied. "Should we go now or what?" Thalia asked. "Best not keep Hermes waiting for us, wouldn't you say?" Gabe answered.


	9. Thalia: Making Amend with My Father

**Thalia:**

**Making amends with my father at long last**

Hermes grabbed me and Gabriel in each hand and we were quickly transported to the top of the Empire State Building. Gabriel was not surprised by how fast we arrived but it took a little adjusting for me since it was a little too quick. "C'mon Thalia, our father is not one to be kept waiting and neither is our uncle," Hermes said, referring to Gabriel. I hurried as quickly as I could and we were soon on the elevator that led to the hidden 600th floor of the Empire State Building a.k.a. Mount Olympus.

When the elevator stopped at our destination, we stepped out and took a good view of the repairs and upgrades that Annabeth had made in the last three weeks on Olympus. "Annabeth has about the same genius as her half-brother Daedalus, something that makes her mother proud," Gabriel said, complimenting Annabeth. I too was impressed by the improvements because instead of stone, the walls were solid stainless steel compacted with many collapse portholes for Gatling guns, M16 machine guns, and bazookas. Soldiers marched on top of the walls and kept regular patrols at the gate that made the outer layer of Olympus seem more like a military base than a home to Olympian gods.

The inside was pretty much the same, especially the Palace where all of the gods met for Council meetings. There were still satyrs, nymphs, and other creatures playing games or watching TV unless they had duties to do on Olympus. Hermes guided me and Gabriel to the Throne Room of the Gods and before long, we were in the presence of all twelve of the Council members from Zeus to Hephaestus. Hestia was also present as was Hades, both of whom were an unusual sight to see on Mount Olympus or even in the throne room for that matter.

Gabriel and I knelt in respect after Hermes took his seat then my dad Zeus began the session with a speech. "For five years Gabriel Johnson, half-brother of myself, my five siblings, and Chiron, has shown us the courage that comes from within the heart through his actions on the behalf of five gods: Hera, Hestia, Helios, Eos, and Selene. Single-handedly, he saw to the end of the Myrmekes in New York City and has also seen the final stand of resurrected Trojan soldiers at the ruins of their country. When he first came to us, he was no better than any other demigod who was not trained to serve us but the fierce fire of loyalty and honesty burned off of him when we saw him.

"Never once did he complain about any of his missions nor did he ever think about the risk to his own life, all in the name of avenging his mother's family and destroying the Titans. That is why today, I would like to call attention to one important detail that has been overlooked by my wife and his present mistress: his time is up and yet Hera insists that he still has to serve her. First, I will let my wife state her case as to why she has turned her back on the promise we made Gabriel when he was just a twelve-year-old boy and insisted that he continue to serve her then I will let him explain his case as to why he should be freed," he said to open up the meeting.

"Well, (in case none of you remember) he betrayed my trust a year ago when he tried to turn his back against his promise to take revenge against the Titan. He called it carving out a normal life for himself and letting go of the one thing that kept him going for five years. May I add that he was under _my _service when he came to this decision to rebel against me and forget everything he had promised to do? On top of that, he managed to slip away from my grasp for four months before I found him and was forced to resort to coercion and threats to bring him back to service.

"I felt betrayed then and I still feel betrayed now by his actions against me. There is not a thing in the world that could make me care about Eos', Helios', Selene's, or Hestia's opinions of how I am treating him for he rightfully deserves it," she explained. "We have heard from Hera, now let us hear from our mortal half-brother Gabriel," Zeus said. "My lord Zeus, I will not even deny that I had betrayed Hera but as we all know, Hera has a big problem with accepting small requests so I could not even ask her for at least a temporary reprieve.

"I will also confirm that I tried to carve out a normal life for myself in the hopes of avoiding going insane with the desire for revenge in my heart. It began when I was on a mission in Tibet and a priest looked into my soul, seeing it for what it really was: a scarred thing that refused to let its wounds heal, taking satisfaction in destroying the cause of the wound. For too long, I had been fighting fire with fire when I had the chance to fight it with water so I tried to find peace in Turkey after I had completed my mission in the ruins of Troy. And for the first time in my life, I knew love but more importantly I knew peace from all the insanity and war going on in my life.

"At this point, I would like to deny that Hera was forced to resort to coercion and threats because it was a situation where she could very easily have just asked me if I wish to return to service. She had no more missions for me after I recovered the armor in Troy so I took a vacation as a result thus starting this whole mess. Instead of having been forced to resort to coercion, she immediately went to it and gave me a choice. First, I could leave the woman I loved, return to service, and be forgiven of my crime against her or I could refuse and be forced to kill her before living a life of misery that followed me even into death, casting my soul into Tartarus.

"Because I loved my ex-wife (I married young as was wanted in Turkey), I left her with tears escaping my eyes and I returned to service again. At first, I thought I was just making up the four months then serving the final eight months of my five-year service. Instead, I found myself in a bondage that extended past my oath but never once did I complain nor speak out because I realized that when I had betrayed Hera, I had betrayed myself as well as the woman I loved. Though I still love her, I doubt she has continued waiting for me thanks to Hera holding me in this bondage that puts me five months overdue to end my service.

"However, I should thank Hera because I found out my true family in the other four gods I served. I found a father in Helios while under his service, a mother in Hestia while under hers, sisters in Eos and Selene while under their service. Strike me down for saying this if you wish but I do not care: I found more of a family in those four gods than in the rest of the Olympians combined," Gabriel spoke, unafraid and calm. My dad hesitated to continue, taking in the full impact of the last comment Gabriel mentioned more than anything else but taking the whole speech well.

"Eos, Selene, Helios, Hestia, what do you four think of what this mortal has said?" he asked after a moment. Eos spoke first but what she had to say amazed me because of its bravery. "I too loved him as more than just servant, I loved him as brother like Helios but for a while, I think I loved him romantically as well. If he had not been under my service, I would have made him immortal and been married to him for eternity," Eos said, a tear rolling down her cheek from remembering the happiness he brought her.

Helios spoke next after wiping the tear from his sister's face and having Selene sooth her. "My lord, I loved him as a little brother as he loved me as an older brother. Call me a fool but never has anyone warmed my heart like he has since Phaethon was alive," Helios said. Then it was Selene who said that she also loved Gabriel as a brother and begged him to be released.

"He is far overdue for a reprieve from serving the gods against his will. I beg you Zeus, since I too ask for so little, to judge wisely and release him from service," Helios said. Lastly, there was Hestia and she had the finest speech in his defense of all the rest. "I have asked nothing of Olympus in all of my years as the goddess who protects the very flames of Olympus themselves.

"When Gabriel came to me to serve me, I immediately saw the makings of the greatest demigod champion there ever was. While under my wing, he was taught to do what he thought was right even if it wasn't always what was necessary. He became like a son to me and I believe I have learned what it means to be a mother through him. I have not asked for anything since the day I was born so I will make this one request: spare him punishment for doing what he felt was right," she said with humility and a mother's love in her voice.

After pondering what to do for while, my dad was quick to make a decision. "Because Hera has violated an agreement made by her and four other gods and because this quest for vengeance was more the mortal's _choice _than his vow, I deem him innocent of any crimes against Olympus and release him from our service. What he does for us from here shall be his own choice," he declared. All four of the gods who defended Gabriel rushed to hug him and all of Olympus applauded in honor of my father's benevolence.

"Congratulations Gabriel, I hope I get something like that someday," I whispered before trying to make my exit. But quicker than I could reach the door, I felt one of my father's strong hands gently come down on my shoulder. "May I speak with you before you leave daughter?" he asked. I turned around and asked him what he wanted to say to me that would be important.

"When I saw you for the first time and had named you, I saw the makings of the greatest demigod I had ever helped conceive. Believe me when I say that I would have loved to stay with you and see you grow up and believe me when I say that I wish I had been there for you," he answered. I took what he had just said to heart and I realized that in some small way, I had always had him beside me. "You were always there for me dad, in here," I replied, pointing to my heart.

"I turned you into a pine tree to protect you and to allow you an opportunity to play a big role for the Camp. Pity was not the only thing that made me do it nor were those things. There is so much to talk about but not enough time so I should just get this off my chest: can you forgive me ever having done you wrong? My mistake with Hercules, the twins Castor and Pollux, Clytemnestra, and Helen was that I was not there for them nor was I even a part of their lives.

"I don't want it to be the same with you nor did I want it to be that way with Perseus. Can you ever forgive me for making you doubt me or making you like I had deserted you?" he asked. I answered with a nod and hugged my father, having at last come to understand that he did love me and would have given up everything for me if he only could. "I will continue to make you proud dad, you can be sure of that," I said.

After Gabriel returned from talking with four of his Special Five and making Hera apologize in front of him, we returned to Earth and were taken back to Camp by Hermes. This day was one I would never forget but before we left, I asked my father if it was possible to find out where Prometheus was as well as the other Titans. "If there is anyone who would know better than me, it would be Hades. He sees what I cannot and knows what I do not," my dad answered.

Along the way back to Earth, I told Gabriel what my father had told me. When he figured out that he was going to have to visit Hades, his response was like that of a general. "I'm not surprised that Hades would know these things because anytime you hide yourself from sky gods, you expose yourself to the gods of the earth," he said. "Then Nico will be taking you to the Underworld to find out what you can about Prometheus' present status?" I asked and he answered with a nod.

"I think I'm going to check on my Hunters when we return to camp. I will see if they're ready to move out; might even help you if I told then to," I said. "Thanks for that offer but I wouldn't push it on them. Even if they recover from their physical injuries, they'll wanna get back at me for injuring their pride," Gabe said.

"Not if I told them to forget their grievances against you and fight besides us," I told him. "Even if they swear to fight alongside me, at least one of them will be secretly conspiring to avenge the pride of the Hunters. Artemis' group is found solely on the belief that men cannot do nearly half as good in anything as women can. Okay, so men are not good at just attempting suicide as many times as women are," he replied.

"Women attempt suicide more than men do?" I asked. "In just America, women are four times more likely to attempt suicide but a man is four times more likely to actually commit the deed but that's a little beside the point," Gabe answered. That was a statistic that I had never thought about and it showed me something: men had their imperfections but Artemis was wrong that they were the worst creatures on the planet. "Then what point are you trying to make?" I inquired, hoping to settle his opinion of Artemis once and for all.

"While Artemis has the kind of tempered and disciplined character that I think my sisters Demeter and Hera need, she uses it for the wrong reasons. Her chastity is admirable but it's not always the best thing for every single girl who joins her. What about you, do you think you can remain chaste forever or avoid _some _minor form of pleasure with a man? Do you think you can avoid desiring to be with a man forever because that's the biggest thing about girls: they are inevitably tempted by the charms of men but it's also vice versa," Gabe explained.

That made sense and now I understood why I had that warm feeling when I first met him. I understood now that to an extent, it was both love and pity for him. The truth was, it was too hard to explain it to him without revealing this developing malcontent with life as a Hunter of Artemis. We arrived at Camp and I went with my Hunters while Gabe did not even wait a moment to find Nico and have him take him to the Underworld. Luckily, I had the chance to say goodbye before they went but that's all we had time for since they were soon on their way after I said goodbye to them without revealing myself.


	10. Nico: Bringing Friends To The Underworld

**Nico:**

**Bringing my new friend to the Underworld for business**

I was glad I had apologized to Gabriel before being allowed to work with him. C'mon, I tried to blast him away with a cannon usually outfitted on a US battleship for crying out loud. I was also glad that Percy let me borrow Mrs. O'Leary before we left to go to the Underworld since shadow traveling was the fastest way to reach it. We arrived to the Central Park entrance in a matter of seconds and soon, we were descending down to my father's realm again.

Charon let us on for free since he already knew we were on a business trip to the Underworld. Plus there was the fact (according to Charon) that when Gabriel was last in the Underworld, things had not gone well between the two of them. We arrived at my father's Palace after a little while on the River Styx and it was a good thing it didn't take long considering the pollution in the river. "Talk about a need for recycling," Gabe joked on the way there.

I had a good laugh and so did Charon though his was a little more uneasy compared to mine. When we arrived, Cerberus allowed us through since the appointment with my Dad and Persephone was prearranged by Hermes. "So Gabe, how does it feel having my dad, Zeus, Poseidon, Chiron for half-brothers?" I asked. "When I first found out, I was thrilled at the idea that I was half-brother to the greatest of the Olympian gods but after a while, it didn't seem so fun," Gabe answered.

"What made it not so fun after the first while after you found out?" I inquired. "Well, I had to serve two of my sisters for a year each and believe me, you don't ever wanna be under the service of Hera when she's in a bad temper," Gabe explained. I was not surprised that he would say something like that because I knew Hera pretty well already. "She sounds a lot like how Persephone is around me whenever I appear in the Underworld," I said.

"Well, they are alike to some extent but I'd gamble on Persephone being more like Demeter and her father Zeus than Hera," Gabe replied. "Wait, Zeus is Persephone's daughter?" I asked. "Yeah, she's the lovechild of an affair between Zeus and Demeter out of the many affairs he had," Gabe answered. I guess that made sense but that sure did surprise me knowing that Persephone is one of Zeus' godly daughters.

"Why, they never told you about that when you returned from the Lotus Casino?" Gabe asked. I shook my head and said that I had never been told about that before or after the Lotus Casino. "I feel sorry for you bud but you're going to be learning a lot from me if you're going to be my coworker," Gabe said. "Believe me, I look forward to learning what you know as fast as possible so I can catch up with what happened in the seventy years between my entrance and my departure from the Lotus Casino," I replied.

My dad awaited us at the throne room of his realm and asked what might make a meeting necessary. "Brother Hades, we have reason to believe from investigation that Prometheus is leading a new regime of the Titans but has deeper plans than just bringing the Titans back together. We also have been led here because we (particularly myself) were informed that you would know where Prometheus would go to hide from us and why he would go there," Gabe explained. "I will help you in this little quest of yours but because I would sooner see the Titans wiped out than miss another dilemma in my family on Olympus," my dad replied with a smile.

"Then where is he and what does he intend to do?" I asked. "Centuries ago, after Hercules freed him, Prometheus came to me and asked me if it was possible to revive Ouranos, ancient god of the skies our brother. I told him that it was possible if you could find his soul deep in the bowels of Tartarus, deeper than where the Titans had been before their destruction three weeks ago. You see, Prometheus knows that the only way to resurrect Ouranos is to go to the Palace of Erebus and offer his soul to the primordial god of darkness himself," Hades answered.

"So he intends to resurrect Ouranos so that he can turn the powers of the sky against us in his fight to avenge our father Kronos. What a piece of crap and is there a way for us to reach the Palace of Erebus undetected?" Gabe asked. "I'm glad you asked that because no Olympian god or goddess is allowed to guide you to the Palace of Erebus. Only one of my souls who knows the way there can guide you there because dead souls are usually not detected until they reach the base of the Palace.

"Then that soul must return to me before being cast into oblivion. However, mortals (with demigods as the biggest gamble) can bypass the base of the Palace and reach the inside before Erebus moves to stop them," Hades answered. "And is there a soul of the dead who knows the way there?" I asked. "Two souls can guide you there since I ordered two souls to remember half of the path and reduce the risk of detection; one is already stationed halfway through the course to rendezvous with you," Hades answered.

"And who is the soul that will guide us through the first part?" Gabe asked. "Perhaps, to at least one of you, the name Bianca di Angelo comes to mind," Hades answered. My mouth in amazement as I realized that my sister would be guiding whoever goes with Gabe to the Palace of Erebus. "Nico, I don't want you going to the Palace of Erebus so your sister will guide you back here unless you choose to stay," my dad said.

"But why don't you want me going?" I asked. "My children share the powers of darkness with Erebus so if you went to confront him, you would die for sure if no one else did," my dad answered. That didn't make sense but I knew better than to argue with my dad on matters that he knew better than me on. Besides, I thought it better to stay and wait for some time to chat with Bianca after she guided Gabriel to the Palace of Erebus.

"So who will go with you, Gabriel?" I asked. "Well, Thalia is going to go with her Hunters to see what she can find out about anything Prometheus has done before this, Percy is too injured to be traveling again just yet, you can't go because your father forbids it so that leaves me with just Annabeth," Gabe answered. "I can go with Mrs. O'Leary and have her brought to the Underworld to join you on this final stage of the quest if you want," I suggested. "Splendid idea Nico, that way we don't have to wait too long for Annabeth to show up in the normal way," Bianca agreed.

I called for Mrs. O'Leary and rode on her back to Camp Half-Blood to pick up Annabeth. It was a little difficult finding her at first so I improvised on having Chiron send a Hermes kid to find her for me. When she met me at my cabin, I told her about what Gabriel needed her for and where they were going. She paled at the idea of going into the domain of the god of darkness himself but quickly changed her mind when I told her it was the only way to reach Prometheus and attempt to stop him from fulfilling his plan.

As soon as she agreed to come to the Underworld and join Gabe on the quest to the Palace of Erebus, we boarded Mrs. O'Leary's back once again and descended back into the Underworld. The good thing was that there was a shadow at my dad's palace so that way we would end up there rather than have to take a boat across the river Styx again. When we arrived, my Dad welcomed Annabeth and told her what she had to do if she was to reach the Palace of Erebus alive. "Look Annabeth, the only reason we're asking you to go with Gabe to the Palace of Erebus is because we found out what Prometheus intends to do," I said.

That got her excited at once and she demanded to know what we knew about Prometheus' intentions for humankind. "Okay, so remember Kronos' dad Ouranos? Our friend Prometheus intends to resurrect him and use his power to destroy us in a final battle for control over humanity. Now, the only way he can bring Ouranos back to life is if he takes the soul of Ouranos and bring it to the Palace of Erebus where the body is slowly piecing itself back together at," I explained.

"Have any of you ever heard of the Sky Sword?" my dad asked. I shook my head no and so did Annabeth but Gabriel nodded to our surprise. "The Sky Sword is the weapon that embodies all of the lethality of the skies themselves. Because Ouranos is the sky, only he can bring up the Sky Sword whether to aid himself like it did when he fought Kronos or to aid someone else like Prometheus intends to have him do," Gabriel added.

"So I take it that your guess is that Prometheus doesn't want Ouranos so much as the Sky Sword?" Persephone asked. Though we were not expecting her to say anything only because she hadn't said anything, Gabriel nodded. "But he doesn't need just Ouranos' soul to bring the sky god back to life and obtain the Sky Sword. He also needs the Black Sword of the Night with Ouranos' soul contained in it in order to bring him back to life," he added.

"The Black Sword of the Night?" Annabeth asked. "According to a legend that I was once told, the night goddess Nyx forged a sword called the Black Sword of the Night to bring some lethality to the powers of the Night. It is also said that Hephaestus aided in forging the sword although this is unlikely since it existed before Hephaestus was even born," Gabe answered. "So you were indeed not in the service of the Special Five for nothing," Hades said, teasing Gabriel.

With a smile, Gabriel nodded and suggested that we be going on our way to the Palace of Erebus. Bianca assured me that she would be back but I begged my dad to let me go with her so that we had more time to talk. "So how do we reach the halfway point in your ability to guide us if the five rivers of the Underworld block us off?" I heard Gabriel said in the distance. "First, we pay Charon to take us down the River Cocytus to where it ends on a shore of black sand," I heard Bianca answer before their voices faded from my hearing entirely.

"So dad, why would I be no match against Erebus if I ever had to fight him?" I asked my dad. "Because he can very easily strip of your powers and use them against you. It is the price I pay for sharing the realm with him as well as the god Tartarus," my dad answered. "Wait, there's a god named Tartarus?" I asked. "Yes, he is the reason I have the realm of the same name where evil souls and the Titans (formerly) resided," my dad answered.

"Tartarus and Erebus are two very powerful primordial deities. They are up there with Gaia and Ouranos and so is Nyx," Persephone said. I nodded my head in understanding but truthfully I was confused. Oh well, one more thing to do kill time here.


	11. Annabeth: Paying Prometheus A Visit

**Annabeth:**

**Gabriel and I pay Prometheus and his friends a visit**

By the time events began to unfold before us, we were already across the river Cocytus, which was like a horrific thrill ride gone wrong and had already past the shores of black sand. Bianca had reached the end of her ability to guide us at this point so she told us to keep on heading straight until we met up with another soul of the dead. At first, I thought we were going to be attacked by the Furies or whatever else resigned in the Underworld but at least Gabriel had his flashlight to keep the way safe for us. For three miles, we walked in almost pitch-black darkness with our light as the only defense against any creature of darkness that would have normally attacked us living mortal.

Then we saw a humanlike figure on the left of two massive boulders but Gabriel became frightened by the soul ahead of us. "What is it, is it someone you know?" I asked. "It's… it's… my wife Nadine from before Hera forced me back to service," he answered. I remembered him saying that he married young like most citizens of Turkey were required to do but I never believed that we would be meeting his wife here.

Before I could stop him though, he ran up to her like a madman and I had to keep up with him in order to avoid being kept out of the light. "Hey, wait for me!" I shouted. But Gabe would not wait for me and soon, he had his beloved Nadine clutched in his arms and spun around in a dance. "By the gods, how did you end up in here?" he asked.

"Seven months after you left me, I gave birth to your twin children: one son and one daughter. Our daughter died just after birth but I was killed in the process of bringing our son to life for the few minutes that he was alive himself. Perhaps you would like to meet them both someday when you return to us in Elysium?" Nadine answered. "I would love to meet our children when I return to you in the Afterlife but because I am eligible for godhood after death, I will see if I can become a god and bring you and our children with me," Gabriel replied.

"Do you wish to know the names they would have carried if they had survived birth?" Nadine asked. Gabriel nodded and was told that the son was named Mohammed and the daughter was named Mary after Gabe's mother. "Those are both beautiful names, I would love to see them with me on Mount Olympus when I become a god," Gabe said. "I would love to be up there with you but for now, let us focus on the mission at hand: guiding you to the Palace of Erebus and helping you stop Prometheus," Nadine said.

I was introduced to her by Gabriel and soon, we were on our way to the Palace of Erebus himself. It soon became clear to me how much the two of them missed each other from time Hera forced Gabriel to leave Nadine behind. While I held the flashlight and kept the way illuminated, they held arms around one another like she had never died or he had never left. Sometimes, Gabriel would led his hand slide across her rear then back up to her waist or even to her shoulder while she sometimes did the same to him.

It made me wonder if Percy had ever tried to do the same with me or if we should even have done anything like that. I shook my head at such a ridiculous idea but then it seemed to make sense to me at the same time. It definitely would have gotten my mom going about me and Percy staying away from each other for certain. But then I wondered if I really needed to irritate my Mom and probably start another fight between her and Poseidon when they were already trying to cool off from the feud for control of Athens.

"How much further before we reach the Palace?" I asked. "In mortal time it would be another half day of walking but since there is no time in the Underworld, I can tell you that we have another fifty-six miles at least," Nadine answered. So now I realized that we would need to walk for another half day in order to reach the Palace of Erebus and probably tolerate the romance between Gabriel and Nadine until it at least did not feel warm to Gabriel anymore. The reason I said that was because apparently Nadine had been brought back to life for this trip by permission of the Fates and would fade back into death until she was just a soul again.

That got me really excited for what would be happening during our travels here in the domain of darkness itself. I was beginning to become furious at myself because Percy and I could not do what Gabriel and Nadine were doing due to an arrow getting stuck in Percy's leg and taking him out of the fight until the quest was already over. Why did the soldiers of Prometheus have to get him with an arrow? And why in the name of all the gods could the Curse of Achilles not hurry his healing abilities along?

It was when we finally stopped that I got to know Nadine much better than I already had. Gabriel had taken sentry duty so that way we girls could have time to talk before the quest continued. I asked her about a few normal girl things like how long Nadine had dated Gabriel beforehand. "My parents were actually Turkish immigrants who followed Islamic traditions and had me marry Gabriel because of his wealth," she began.

"So you two basically got together because of an arranged marriage?" I asked. She nodded and added that my parents had heard about him and his successful business as an author. They had also heard about how his butler was his uncle's temporary (until Gabriel became of age unless he gave up his right to the business) successor at one of the wealthiest lawyer industries in all of Southern California. "Because of this, my parents decided it was best for me to get married to Gabriel so that I would not suffer he same fate as the rest of our family," she added.

"So what did you do to make sure that Gabriel was the right man for you?" I asked. "I warmed up to him without my parents knowing by befriending him and getting to know him better. Then I realized that maybe it would be a good idea to share at least some of life with him and if it didn't work out, at least we were in America so we could divorce," Nadine answered. "But what about what he had been saying about his status as a citizen of Turkey?" I inquired.

"He likes saying that because he felt more at home in Turkey than he did in America," Nadine assured me. We had a good laugh out of that and Gabriel was none the wiser about it. He did not even turn around to ask us what we were laughing about but kept vigilant for us. "So did you really, honestly love him from the bottom of your heart?" I asked her.

She nodded and said that she had gladly given her life for him in the name of raising his children. After that talk, we slept for the night and resumed our journey in what was the morning in the world above us. We arrived at the Palace in a few hours but Nadine had become so faint by then that we could barely see her like Hades promised. "Now I am at the end of my ability to guide and protect you from the terrors of the darkness that surrounds you," Nadine said.

"I hope to see you again really soon Nadine. I love you and tell the kids that I love them, okay?" Gabriel said. "Gabriel, I assure you that I will tell them that you love them as much as they love you," Nadine replied. She faded completely after saying that and Gabriel vowed that he would avenge her death and the death of every family member that he had once had before Prometheus destroyed them.

Gabriel and I then descended up the stairs that led to the very gates of Erebus' domain itself. The gates opened automatically for us and a voice told us to come in at our peril. "Let your Titan relatives be the judge of how much peril we are in," Gabriel replied. I said nothing because I didn't know what to say nor if anything would be wise on my part.

I think it turned out for the better that I didn't say anything because soon after, we were going across winding corridors, near-infinite hallways, and dodging many traps until we came at last to the altar where Prometheus was bringing back the late Ouranos. The voice of his chant filled the room and that was the only way we knew our way to him: by the sound of his voice getting louder and louder. Our flashlight had lost all power by this time so we really on sound as well as old-fashioned torches made from when we found wooden stakes as well as cloths and matches. The voice grew louder and louder until at last, we could hear him chanting loud and clear the words necessary to bring back the sky god.

"Oh mighty lord of the skies, father of the Titans and grandfather of myself, Atlas, and Epimetheus! We use the powers of the Black Sword of the Night as well as your soul to piece your body back together and unleash your powers upon our enemies. Come back to us Ouranos and aid us in destroying the accursed Olympians and taking back what is rightfully ours! Arise in the name of all that is just and true, arise and avenge your defeat by the hands of Kronos!" Prometheus shouted clearly.

Epimetheus spotted us and called out to his brother that we were here. "Ah Gabriel Johnson, son of Kronos and Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena! I knew you would come for I had foreseen it. Welcome to your doom as you two shall be the first to witness the return of the true sky god and the revenge of the Titans," Prometheus said.

"We're here to stop you Prometheus, once and for all!" I shouted. "Atlas, Epimetheus, I think you both know what to do," Prometheus said. "Hey before we 'die', how the hell did you free Atlas?" Gabriel asked. "Well, I solved that problem with a Titan who was willing to trade places in the name of our cause. Does the name Perses ring a bell to either of you?" Prometheus answered.

"Isn't that the Titan of destruction?" I asked. "That's right, smart girl. Perses was a raw force that I could not contain so I tricked him into holding up the skies in Atlas' place and that is where we have left him. Enough talk, brothers destroy them!" Prometheus answered.

"I'll take Atlas, you handle Epimetheus. Make him swing his spear or jab at you and miss, he'll eventually tire," Gabriel told me. That was good to know considering that his attacks were mostly heavy and each stroke was meant to take a severe impact on me if they didn't miss me. "A child of Athena shall be a worthy addition to my collection of victims," Epimetheus told me.

"What do you intended to do, use me as your slave or something?" I asked. "If you hold still, I intend to just take your head," he answered. Now my head on a pike brought back to camp would definitely not be a pretty sight so I did my best to dodge his attacks, blocking the lights stabs with my knife and dodging the long, wide strokes he sometimes used. But just when I was about to move in to make a decisive blow after he wore out (which took forever by the way) Prometheus had successfully pieced together Ouranos and granted him new life.

He looked around the room wildly and began to shout out curses in Greek until he actually caught up with speaking English. "Where is Kronos, how dare he humiliate me in front of all my universe! And who are you, you're not just a human so don't introduce yourself as a mortal?" Ouranos boomed to Prometheus. "Lord Ouranos, I am your grandson Prometheus by Iapetus and these are my brothers Atlas and Epimetheus.

"I breathed life into you because I need your Sky Sword as well as you to help me avenge the Titans who sided with you against Kronos! Because of the current rulers, those usurping Olympians, the Titans are all but extinct save myself, my brothers, one Titan taking Atlas' place at separating your domain from the Earth, and our regenerating army," Prometheus explained. "Is Kronos dead?" Ouranos asked. "He was killed by a demigod named Percy Jackson three weeks ago however, there are two descendants of Kronos right here for you to start your quest for revenge with," Prometheus answered.

"I sense the power within the boy, who sired him?" Ouranos asked, inquiring into Gabriel's lineage. "Oh, wise choice grandfather because his father is none other than your treacherous son Kronos. The other one is a daughter of Kronos' granddaughter Athena, present goddess of wisdom," Prometheus answered with a smile. "Indeed, this is a good start in my quest for revenge that will encompass the deaths of every single living descendant of my son Kronos!" Ouranos agreed, laughing wickedly.

"Annabeth, we have to leave and we have to leave now!" Gabriel whispered to me. "We can take him now, even after having his soul remerged into his body he's still not at full power," I whispered back. "Don't be a fool he has all the advantages over us and because we don't have the element of surprise anymore, he'll destroy us," Gabriel replied. But just after he had said that, a figure that was pitch black from head to toe except for sea green eyes appeared and stood between us and Ouranos.

"What are you doing, you fool? You dare interfere with my vengeance brother!" Ouranos shouted. "Careful who you speak to Ouranos, you are in my domain now and it is my command that you and your new friends leave my Palace. Prometheus promised that he would only be here to resurrect you, not sacrifice demigods to you," the figure calmly said.

Ouranos left storming while Prometheus and his brothers followed. "We are in your debt, oh mighty black god of darkness," Gabriel said. "No, it is I who was indebted to you Gabriel Johnson. I have just simply returned the favor you did me after pondering how I may do so," the figure replied.

"Are you Erebus, god of primeval darkness and the ruler of this palace?" I asked. "I am Erebus and you are Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena and granddaughter of the noble Zeus. Come with me and I will return you two back to your Camp Half-Blood through Shadow-travel," Erebus answered. "Am I indebted to you now, Erebus?" I asked.

"Only if you and I both wish for you to be indebted and I do not wish for you to tire yourself over repaying me. Come, there is little time and you must warn your camp of the stand it must take in order to avoid being destroyed," Erebus told me. I grabbed one of his extended hands and so did Gabriel but after that, I saw nothing. Nothing except darkness and then the middle of the camp's dining pavilion where it would be quickest to reach Chiron.


	12. Percy: Finalizing Plans With Friends

**Percy:**

**Talking with my old friends and the new one about this past week and finalizing plans**

Just after my leg had recovered enough for me to be able to walk long distances again, I got a report that Annabeth and Gabriel had returned from their mission. Chiron and Mr. D wanted me present for the elaboration that my girlfriend and our new friend had to give us. "Annabeth Chase and Gabriel Johnson had risked life and limb to present us with this completed investigation of the activities of the Titans, will one of you begin?" Chiron said, opening up the meeting that featured every Cabin leader possible, including Nico and Thalia.

"I will start since I was probably the one who caused it by failing to stop Prometheus first," Gabriel said. Annabeth assured him he had not caused the events of their trip to happen the way they did. Still, he insisted on being the one to tell since he could explain it better and understood more about what went on then she did. She agreed to that since, as I would later find out, she really did not understand as much as he did on what happen.

"After an investigation in the Underworld, we have at last found out what keeps the Titans going even with the death of Kronos. Prometheus, benefactor of mankind and the giver of fire, has succeeded Kronos as leader of the Titans and awakened a power more ancient and more threatening to us than Kronos. He has revived the sky god Ouranos using the powers of Nyx's Black Sword of the Night and with it, plunging the soul of Ouranos back into the god's body. This wouldn't be bad if in addition to Ouranos revived at the cost of the powers of the Black Sword of the Night, Ouranos also has agreed to locate and recover the Sky Sword for the cause of Prometheus and the remaining Titans.

"For those of you who do not know, the Sky Sword is the sword that embodies all of the powers of the skies and gives the one who wields it power to manipulate the winds, lightning, thunder, and other related elements. The worst thing is, this manipulation of the sky would render Zeus powerless to help us if the wielder wished it so. Prometheus has told him to start his campaign of revenge by destroying the demigods of Camp Half-Blood and there is no doubt in mind that no matter what Ouranos thinks, Prometheus is the one truly in charge of all this," Gabriel explained.

"May I interject by saying that we only survived because Erebus, god of darkness came to our rescue before the enemy could have their way with us? We must gather every demigod we have, every weapon we have, every asset we have, and prepare to wage war with Ouranos and his Titan 'allies' as soon as possible," Annabeth said. "I agree, we must be ready to fight for the Camp as soon as possible," Nico said. Chiron stopped us all before we got too far into our chats on how to prepare for war.

"I admire the excitement everyone has about this idea however, we must see if we can move against them first rather than let them come to us," Chiron said. "How do you know we won't be walking into a trap?" I asked. "That's what we have Nico's ability to summon the souls of the dead for. And that's what we also have Briares for," Chiron answered.

"So what would be the strategy then?" Nico asked. Chiron made to speak but because Annabeth was a child of Athena and figured it out faster than Chiron did, she spoke for him. "The strategy is to see if we can destroy Ouranos and steal away the Sky Sword first. Destroy Ouranos then sit back and wait to see if Prometheus will proceed with retaliation against the camp, right Chiron?" Annabeth said. Chiron nodded and added that the sooner we could remove Ouranos and hopefully obtain the Sky Sword, the better the chance we could stand against Prometheus' hordes when and if they decided to show to Camp Half-Blood.

"I would like four demigods to lead this attack and because we need Nico to get our army, he is already signed up. Who will go with him and who will stay here to help prepare for the battle that is sure to come in the event of their failure?" Chiron asked. I immediately jumped at this and said that I would since I knew my leg would be ready in time to join them for the travel to wherever we needed to go. "That's one who else will join?" Chiron asked.

Gabriel answered since he knew that in order for us to defeat Ouranos, we would need the best of Camp Half-Blood. And as if agreeing with him, Thalia also volunteered to go on board for the joyride of going on a quest to destroy Ouranos. "In their absence, I will stay and help Chiron and Mr. D prepare the rest of us for the battle that is sure to come whether they succeed or not," Annabeth added. "Then it is decided, Annabeth will stay here and draw battle plans while our four most powerful demigods go to aid in buying us time to prepare for Prometheus' attack.

"Now they just need the prophecy from the Oracle before they make their next move," Mr. D said. Now that was the part I did not like the most about any of these quests, usually. You see, before the crisis with Gabriel's dad Kronos ended, our Oracle was an undead zombie who sometimes came to life and uttered prophesies. Now, that zombie was replaced by the living, beautiful Rachel Elizabeth Dare who took on the spirit of the Oracle after Hades lifted the curse that kept the zombie going.

There was only the fact that the attic was still creepy for the most part, at least, when I last checked. To my surprise and utter delight, it was amazing what she had done with the place in her spare time from uttering incantations and she had even organized all the artifacts we had from A to Z. "Hey Rachel, how are you doing?" I asked. She answered that she was doing very well and asked to know who Gabriel was.

"This is Gabriel Johnson, demigod son of Kronos and a former servant of the gods of Olympus before coming here," Annabeth answered. Rachel took a moment to see if she felt anything since the Oracle's spirit came and went in her. We knew that she connected when her eyes began to change and she looked like she was experiencing a seizure. Wisely, we stood our ground as she uttered the number one prophecy of the day and probably the best one we had had since she uttered the new Great Prophecy three weeks ago.

"_Four demigods must travel to the ruins of the Old Titan's rule_

_Consult with darkness or be forever destroyed on that day_

_When the son of Kronos charges in to face the wrath_

_Of the Sky King or himself!" _

I grabbed her and kept her from hitting her head on the ground until she was all right again. "Thank you Percy, I'm still having trouble getting used to the spirit of the Oracle residing in my body," Rachel said. I told her she was welcome and Gabriel suggested that we leave now. Since we had gotten our prophecy, we agreed to discuss it over dinner before making a move since it was almost time to have dinner at the dining pavilion.

Chiron gave us permission to use Zeus' table for business since this was important and we gathered after making our offers to the gods. My first guess was immediately the same as everybody everyone else's about the last line. "So the last line of the prophecy means that Gabriel is destined to duel with Ouranos unless Prometheus shows up and chooses to fight him instead, right?" I asked. Everyone agreed about that and said that it sounded reasonable considering that it did say that the son of Kronos must face either Ouranos' wrath or himself.

"But that line: _Consult with darkness or be forever destroyed_. That's the one that gets me the most," Nico said. "If I am not mistaken, we are to consult Erebus the god of darkness itself about something. As to what we're to consult him about, I truly don't know," Thalia said.

"Does the first line come to mind for anybody at this point? We know the rest but here's my suggestion: why not consult Erebus about an answer to the first line?" Gabriel suggested. "We already know that we are supposed to go to the 'Old Titan's ruin' but that could mean a lot of things," Nico agreed. "Perhaps an Iris message to Erebus would work?" I asked.

"Erebus only answers those if he wants to and he seldom ever answers the messages of anyone living above his realm. But there is a chance he will listen to me this time like he has before," Gabriel answered. "So how about we wait until the sun sets then move out of all possible light and use an Iris message to bring him up from his palace?" Thalia asked. "That's a risky move but my father would agree that it would be a necessary one," Nico answered.

"Let's meet at Zeus' Fist as soon as the sun sets then call him over. One of us has to remember to take a portable source of light with us until he agrees to come up and speak to us so we can make the Iris message possible," Gabriel said. We all nodded and agreed to do it with Thalia volunteering to make some lightning happen long enough for the Iris message to be sent. Then, to break the tension, I asked what everyone thought of this past week.

"Let me put it this way: it was mild before the rumors of Gabriel's existent really took form and substance," Thalia said. "I was having fun playing _Pente_ with my dad when I was called into action," Nico said with some witty humor. We all had a good laugh out of that even Gabriel smiled, which was a sight I had never seen before. "A smile, we've never seen that on you since you've been here," Thalia said.

"Until I was absolved of my crime against Hera and released from her service, I had not smiled in at least a year. This is the second time in a year that I've smiled had a reason to smile and the first time in year to even chuckle," Gabriel replied. That was something I never heard of: how could you not have a reason to smile for almost a year at all? I had to put that question aside as sunset was coming fast and I had to get the water gun I had been given for Iris messages out.

Nico had a golden coin to throw in and Gabriel would deliver the message so we all played a part in deliver the message to Erebus. "Oh rainbow goddess, accept our offering. Show us Erebus, god of darkness itself," Gabriel said after taking Nico's coin and tossed it into the rainbow. At first, it looked as though nothing was happening but then we made contact with Erebus.

"Ah Gabriel, what can I do for you?" Erebus asked when he saw Gabriel's face. "I need some help from you, hopefully something you know is what we need to know before Ouranos and Prometheus attack," Gabriel answered. "Why not just ask me the question over the Iris message?" Erebus inquired. "So you know that I would like you to come to Camp Half-Blood for a bit?" Gabriel asked, surprised by Erebus' awareness of what he wanted.

"Yes I know and that's why I asked why you want me to talk to you in person if you're already talking to me in an Iris message," Erebus told him. "Well, we are not exactly sure we can trust the Iris message to not be intercepted by Prometheus. That's the only reason, otherwise I would ask my question over this," Gabriel said. "Please wait a moment until you're surrounded by blue fire, when that happens then you'll know I'm here," Erebus replied.

We nodded and made sure to take have Thalia turn off the lightning she had been using to light up the Iris message and I stopped the squirt gun. We waited a little bit then, as promised, we were surrounded by blue fire and Erebus stepped in right in front of us. Now I have to admit, he came across as probably the most intimidating sight to look at that I had ever seen. Imagine the devil with skin black as night from head to toe with equally black horns, no wings, and massive horns because that's when you have Erebus.

Oh and might I add that you could see his entire skeleton from head to toe? That's right, he barely had enough skin to cover his bones whose shapes were already exposed to us. He looked so fragile and yet he was so tall that even Gabriel (who is the tallest by a few inches at 6'1) had to look up to him. "Now that we are out of the untrustworthy system of the Iris message, what is your question my friend?" Erebus asked.

"We have consulted the Oracle for our prophecy and we have already figured out all but the first line to it. It goes like this: _Four demigods must travel to the ruins of the Old Titan's rule_. We were wondering what that could mean and were wondering if you knew," Gabriel explained. "Tell me the rest of the prophecy so that I may know how best to help you," Erebus said.

Gabriel did and then Erebus asked us a relatively simple question. "Tell me, what is the name of your father's realm? It was the place where the Titans ruled mankind from high above before Olympus was formed," he asked. Then we knew we had it: Orthys, the Black Throne of Mount Orthys.

The prophecy said to go to the ruins of the Kronos' throne on Mount Orthys! We thanked him because we knew at once where to go to fight Ouranos and Prometheus. He disappeared and took the blue fire with him without even damaging a single speck of land around the Zeus' Fist and we went to find Chiron. "What are you children doing up past the curfew, I know you're the leaders of the war against Prometheus and Ouranos after me but even you need rest?" Chiron asked, grouchy as can be.

"Chiron, my dear brother, we don't care about that right because guess what? We have our heading to where we're supposed to go and launch the attack," Gabriel answered. Chiron asked where and we watched as he reacted to the name Gabriel uttered from his mouth. "Mount Orthys!" he proudly declared to his three thousand year old half-brother.

To Be Continued…


	13. RotT: TSS: Title and Table of Contents

Revenge of the Titans

The Sky Sword

By

Christopher Cleveland

**Table of Contents**

**Gabriel: Returning to the remains of Mount Orthys**

**Nico: The blessing of the god of darkness himself**

**Thalia: Artemis leaves a warning for her loyal Hunters**

**Annabeth: Casting aside an old grudge to survive**

**Percy: Helping to rekindle a old flame**

**Nico: Bringing the souls of the dead to life for one last fight and the "aftershocks"**

**Annabeth: Preparing the campers for the inevitable**

**Percy: Leading the assault on Mount Orthys' already ruined palace**

**Thalia: The domain of Kronos and the enemy waiting in its remnants**

**Gabriel: The confrontation with Ouranos and Prometheus along with aftermath**

**Annabeth: The Sky Sword and what happened next**


	14. Gabriel: Returning To Mount Orthys

**Gabriel: Returning to the remains of Mount Orthys**

Hi my name is Gabriel and I'm a demigod son of Kronos with a rather checkered reputation. I used to serve five Olympian gods because they did not have a chance to be represented by a demigod. Hera was one of those gods and boy did she treat me like a worthless crock of crap. Anyway, that's the polite, soft version of what went on while I was in a five-year period where I served the gods, Eos, Selene, Helios, Hera, and Hestia.

Enough about my service to the gods, I'm here to talk about a journey I am on to a very special place called Mount Orthys. Almost five weeks ago, I was on a diplomatic mission for Hera and had been captured by soldiers of my father Kronos and brought to his kingdom called Orthys. For two weeks, I was held in captivity until my father's death on Mount Olympus at which point I had to escape before Mount Orthys came under attack. As I had predicted, Orthys was attacked by an army of demigods wearing armor I had never seen before and wielding swords I didn't recognize until after I had escaped.

Unfortunately, I had to kill a couple of these demigods when they chose to attack me on my way out. I stole one of their spears and used it as a means of escaping and ran as far away as I could once I had descended to the base of Mount Orthys. Once I was far from the base of the mountain, I just kept running until I reached Las Vegas than rendezvoused with Hera for my next mission. Now, I was returning to the very place where once my father ruled on high as King of the Titans and former ruler of the universe.

"You know, coming back here brings up some awesome memories of my dad," I joked to Nico. "Did you ever really meet your dad before he was killed?" Nico asked. "Sort of but he was possessing a mortal when we met for the first time in my life," I admitted and hey, it's a "sort of" incident considering he had not fully revived. "So you met him and Luke Castellan, am I right?" Nico asked.

I nodded and added that that was before I was thrown into the dungeons in the bowels of Kronos' palace. "How did you escape?" Nico asked. "Trust me, you don't want to know the story behind that," I answered. "Probably not," Nico agreed.

We both had a good laugh from that and I just knew that we were going to be friends despite the fact that he had taken a WWII battleship cannon and shot at me with it when we met. "Hey Nico, when do you think we're going to be able to revive the dead and get this assault over with?" I asked. "Well, we do have to wait and see if Erebus will show and grant us his blessing. It's our best chance before the dead are raised if we are to take Ouranos and Prometheus by surprise," Nico answered.

Our basic battle plan that we had decided on was that (as you probably got) to wait until darkness, bring up our undead army, receive the blessing of the god of darkness himself, then attack. "But here's my question Gabe: how do we know if he'll accept my request to bless us and not yours?" Nico asked. That was a very good question and that had me left with food for thought for just a moment. Then I answered in the best way I could with the knowledge I had.

"Before your father came to rule, Tartarus and Erebus formed the Underworld and ruled it together. When your father came, he dethroned Tartarus and even dispelled his essence so that the place of the same name is all that remains. As for Erebus, he escaped any real threat Hades could be by creating a field of eternal darkness that would grow ever stronger until it dominated almost all of the Underworld," I explained. "Does that mean Erebus bears a grudge against my father as my father once bore a grudge against Zeus?" Nico asked.

"Erebus is who he obtained your fatal flaw from, otherwise he would have had no flaw and would probably have been the only perfect god," I answered. "That explains why you want me to ask for the blessing and not anyone else," Nico said. "Erebus has no problem with Zeus or Poseidon since neither have done anything, it's only Hades he has anything against. When we last talked about it, he said to me that he hoped it stayed that way if nothing was going to improve between him and Hades," I told him.

Nico nodded his head to assure me that he understood what I had said. But his understanding of what he was saying did not matter to me. All that mattered to me was that Erebus was allowed the chance to put an end to his enmity with Hades before we attacked. It was the least I could do to make sure we had every single asset we could get on our side.

While we waited for Erebus to be able to come to us, I reflected on an old flame I once held in my heart. Of course, this was before my wife Nadine and definitely before my journey in Turkey. During my time under the service of Eos, beautiful goddess of the dawn, she had treated me probably better than the rest with Selene and Hestia closely behind. Every day, after she had done her duty of announcing her brothers return to the sky, she would have me do some sort of chore around her beautiful palace whether it was to go and deliver some items or a message to one of her fellow Olympians, things like that.

The biggest favor that she had asked me had been to find her father Hyperion and ask him where he stood with the Olympians. You see, this was just at the beginning of Kronos' resurgence and Eos seemed to be the only who showed concern for her father. "Does Hyperion even care about the way that you feel about him?" I asked her. "I am well aware of the possibilities of how he may be feeling about my concern, which is why I must know," she answered.

"Listen Eos, I don't guarantee good news but I promise that I will do what is necessary to come back with news good or bad about him," I told her. Then she did something that would galvanize me for as long as I lived. She kissed me on the forehead and though she knew what I was going to say, she thanked me for saying it anyway. "Just return to me with a message from my father, you will be handsomely rewarded either way," she said with a smile.

I knew that she had a child's love their parent but I could never understand it. I mean, my father was never there and my mother had died when I was young so how could I understand something I never had? When Helios returned from driving the sun around the world (you see, he and Apollo agreed to shifts and I worked when Helios was on his shift), I asked for directions to Hyperion's domain since he saw everything. "Follow the sun to the moon to the east for four days then look for a glowing, red Omega symbol," he told me.

I knew better than to question what Helios meant by that and followed his instructions precisely. The glowing Omega was small, making it difficult to catch, but when I caught it I walked to it to an iron door guarded by a fierce giant. "Who are you and who sent you?" it asked with a spear pointing at my head. "I am Gabriel Johnson and I come bearing a message from Eos, the goddess of the dawn, for Hyperion and only Hyperion," I answered calmly.

He banged on the door three times with one of his big fists and waited a moment. Then a slide opened across the door and two glowing orbs that looked like miniature suns peered out the door. "Master, a mortal has come bearing a message from Eos, the goddess of the dawn. Does that sound familiar to you at all?" the giant asked.

"Eos is my eldest daughter by Thea, did you ask for his name?" the source of those eyes replied. "His name is Gabriel Johnson and it seems he is unarmed," the giant said. "Let him in, I want to see him in my throne room at once," the voice ordered. Then the slide closed, those eyes went out of sight, and the door creaked open just enough for me to walk through without trouble.

After that, I was immediately entranced by the wonders of Hyperion's palace. Outside, it had looked like an old military base but inside it looked like one of those places where they had lights and pictures to simulate day and night only the real skies were in this instead of just pictures. I guess I could say it sort of reminded me of one of those casinos in Las Vegas where they do those crazy shows for audiences that are paying any attention. "Are you going to stand around in awe of my domain that you're going to forget the message that my daughter entrusted you with?" that voice asked.

I snapped back into reality and looked directly at the creator of all this himself. Hyperion was a tall, imposing man with a long cloak that had blinking stars on it. His eyes were those orbs I had seen outside that looked like miniature sons and his height made me practically bend all the way back just to look at his face until he sat on his throne. "Master Hyperion, your daughter has sent me here to inform you that she is worried about you. She wishes to know if you will remain on the side of Olympus or if you will be neutral in the return of the Titans," I explained.

He chuckled and I politely asked what might be so funny to him. "I sided with the Titans in the first war between Zeus and Kronos. Truly, I am astounded that my daughter expects me to forget the call to arms and either help Zeus or remain neutral. But then, she is quite a winning creature when you consider that she was the one who persuaded Zeus to spare me from severe punishment when I was captured by him," he told me.

"So this is how you repay your daughter for doing that? She's your freaking daughter! I don't have a parent in my life and even I know that you're doing is crap," I replied. "Oh dear, I am so scared because I'm insulting my own daughter. You know, you're very funny for a demigod son of Kronos," Hyperion said.

"What's so funny about a daughter's plea to her father?" I asked. "Oh nothing, just that I have to ask that you leave now. My answer has been given but if you need a simpler message to take back then take this: 'Eos, if you will stand with Zeus than expect me on the opposite side'. She should get the picture from that one about where I stand with Zeus and the returning Titans," he answered.

While I stood poised to destroy him first chance he gave me, he called for his giant soldier that had been at the door. Though they spoke at a volume so low that I couldn't hear them, I could read lip movement very well. What he told the guard to do was that if I gave him an excuse to do so, he was to kill me at once. Luckily for all of us, I gave the guard no excuse to try to kill me and went out quietly to report what I had learned to Eos.

After another four days, this time to the West, I returned to Eos' palace where she stayed and gardened during the day and frolicked in pleasure with whoever was there with her during the night. But during the times known to us as dawn, her role as a goddess was active. Sadly though, none of her experience as a goddess of Olympus was going to prepare her for what I had to tell her. Luckily, I was bought a little time when I had to ask if she was in the garden or in her throne room before I had to tell her.

When I found her, it almost made my heart shatter to have to tell her then see her face as she reacted to it. "Eos, I have returned with the reply from your father Hyperion. He was not the most hospitable god I had ever met but his abilities in hospitality served my purposes," I told her. "Speak Gabriel, I am prepared to know what my father has decided even if it's not good," she replied.

I related to her what Hyperion had told me to say as well as what happened throughout my stay there. With some courage but mostly grief, I watched as she began to release golden tears of betrayal and regret. "Then may Olympus curse him to whatever punishment it deems worthy of him!" Eos screamed as she began crying. I ran to her and held her in my arms, letting her cry on my chest though I tried to cheer her up.

"This is how he repays me for defending him against Zeus? Is this how he chooses to thank his children for leaving him something to rule over?" Eos asked. "I only met Hyperion once but I could easily figure that at best, he was a very selfish god," I agreed. "Perhaps you're right about that Gabriel but do me the kind honor of being my bedmate for the night?" Eos asked.

I had to admit that I found myself blushing when she said that and she laughed although she was still crying. "If it pleases my lady then it shall be done," I told her. She giggled and I spent a night with her before she did her duty as goddess of the dawn and the whole day in bed after she returned. In those few hours that we spent together, I still feel to this day as though we loved a lifetime's worth and that she still has some feelings for me.

As I brought my mind back to the present moment, I saw that Helios was almost done with his journey across the sky to conclude another day. I made sure that Nico was ready to greet Erebus when he arrived since this had to be done right or else we would be done for. Still, I had to wonder how it could have come to this when peace could have been achieved after the death of my dad Kronos. But then, Prometheus did need an excuse to redeem himself from the fact that he had killed my family and turned me against the Titans.

If only I had killed him in one of our three previous duels so that it wouldn't lead to this. That's right, we had three duels before I met the demigods of Camp Half-Blood or Thalia and her Hunters. The first time, I was so miserably defeated that if Helios had not made the sun glow to burn Prometheus then I would have died. After that, I had two draws where I saw him retreat after declaring that it was impossible to kill me.

But this time, I would see to it that I at least scored a victory if I had to face him again because now, I was not interested in his head for the sake of revenge. I was interested for the sake of justice to my family and restoring honor to my mother's clan. Before I let my feelings for even thinking about Prometheus cloud my better judgment, I reminded myself that it might not be the best thing to try and take Prometheus' head now. Besides, what if killing Ouranos was what was necessary rather than letting him escape for Prometheus?


	15. Nico: Blessing of The God of Darkness

**Nico: The blessing of the god of darkness himself**

Right after the sun set, Erebus arrived as was planned for us. I was amazed that we had gone undetected by Ouranos or Prometheus this long but at the moment, I was excited to settle one more feud and establish one more alliance between the gods. "Ah, Nico di Angelo come to speak on his father's behalf or that of Gabriel's for me tonight?" Erebus asked. "I have come to apologize on my father's behalf for the insult done to you," I answered.

"Cute, you may continue if you wish to do what your father never did," Erebus commented. "On behalf of my father Hades and on behalf of all the creatures of the Underworld, I apologize for the offense committed against you and your brother Tartarus when the first Great War ended and Hades came to rule," I said. "Shortly after your father took rule, I put a curse on the area that I still had that made it so dark that not even your father dared venture without my permission. The only one to have been allowed into my domain until now has been our friend Gabriel and anyone who travels with him but now, that is no longer so with the feud over," Erebus explained.

"My lord, if it is not impolite to do so, I would like to ask what this has to do with your feud with Hades. Which, as your graciousness has seen fit, has been absolved," I asked. "Shortly after I established my domain in the Underworld, I accidentally activated a part of my magic that made the darkness spread until it engulfed almost all of the Underworld save Elysium and Tartarus. That is precisely why the Underworld is the dark and gloomy domain that you know it to be to this day," Erebus answered.

"And does our friend Nico have at least one more thing to do for our god of darkness here?" Gabriel said to me. Then I remembered that I was supposed to swear an oath that it would never happen again and receive the blessing of Erebus. "Lord Erebus, I swear on the River Styx to do everything in my power to prevent another feud between you and Hades. Having sworn this oath, may I ask for your blessing before we wage war against the forces of evil tonight?" I asked.

"First, before I can give you my blessing I need you to lift up your arms and show me the palms of your hands," Erebus answered. I obeyed, knowing better than to question the word of a god especially one like Erebus. Both of his eyes then glowed a pale green light that sent out currents of lightning right into the palms of my hands. The lightning was so painful when it touched my hands that I had to bite me lip to keep from screaming.

It lasted for a few minutes but all the same, it hurt really bad. When the pain passed, I didn't even notice it for a few moments since it was so tremendous. But when I finally realized that it had passed, I noticed that I had an Alpha on my left hand and an Omega on the other. "Nico di Angelo, you have made an oath to darkness itself.

"Live and remember your oath to the mighty Erebus. Now, you have my blessing to fight the forces of evil on the following night. The full might of Darkness' army is yours to command for you are my champion on Earth, whose power is seconded only by my own," Erebus declared. I turned to Gabriel and showed him the marks on my hands that would act as a reminder of what I had done.

He smiled and nodded, thanking Erebus for being of assistance to the demigods of Camp Half-Blood once again. "I would rather put up with Hades and his occasional complaints of me stealing souls from him than see the Titans return and destroy him for the death of Hades means my death as well," Erebus told us. Then he disappeared in a single display of power rivaled only by the Big Three in its magnitude. My guess was that he was a very happy god of darkness tonight considering he helped end a millennia-old feud between himself and Hades.

"How do you feel after being declared the champion of darkness itself?" Gabriel asked. For a moment, I had to think about that since it was a new sensation to me but then I sort of had the words. "I feel… stronger, faster, and more confident with a sword than I had previously felt," I answered. "Then let's have a practice spar so you can confirm how you feel right now," he said.

Quicker than I had ever done before, I had my sword out and on the attack but he intercepted with one of his swords. He pushed my sword aside with the other and I was soon attacking with the powers of darkness on my side. Gabriel was not surprised by any of my moves because he could move quickly if he wished and he did. Soon, I was purely on defensive but even my defense had improved since the last time I had had to use my sword to survive.

When we crossed blades, I asked him how he was able to move so fast. "Let me put it this way, I have all the powers of a god but I don't have the immortality. That's the only thing that makes me different between the gods, someone with the Curse of Achilles like Percy, and normal mortals," he answered. That made sense considering that he was indeed a son of Kronos and it led me to wonder if Chiron had the same abilities as Gabriel did.

As if reading my mind, Gabriel told me that Chiron was like Gabriel in his own way but was inferior thanks to his status as a centaur. "You need to be purely human to access the abilities that the gods and I have otherwise, you're still powerful but you're not the most powerful warrior to walk the planet," Gabriel explained. He added that Chiron would only hope that his experience with training heroes would sharpen his skills enough to even hold his own against Gabriel like I was. "Chiron is one of the best warriors I have ever seen and trust me, Chiron in action is a sight to behold," he said.

We continued to spar a little more until Gabriel managed to disarm me in a few minutes. Both of us were sweating and panting for breath although I was doing it harder than he was. "I haven't had a good round like that since the time I had to face down one of Hyperion's giant guards. And that was when I attempted to assassinate Hyperion on Hestia's behalf, more than a year ago," he said.

"What was Hyperion like when you first met him?" I asked, eager to know one of the Titans a bit better. "Let's put it this way (although vulgar, this is the only polite way I can describe him) he was probably the most selfish asshole with no balls that I had ever met," Gabriel answered. That impressed me since I had never heard Gabriel curse before and I don't think anybody did besides Drew Beauregard who probably heard him do that in bed (trust me, you don't want to know how I found that out). "Hey Gabriel before you met the gods, did you ever believe in any supernatural deities?" I asked, quite out of the blue but it was a random thought.

"No but my youngest uncle tried to force Christianity down my throat when I was younger. But in order to keep my ability to use logic and avoid having empty faith, I used to sneak in some George Carlin routines," Gabriel answered. "Repeat one routine for me please?" I inquired, interested in what George Carlin would tell him through his routines. "One of my favorites is his revision of the Ten Commandments so I think I will tell you that one," Gabriel said.

I made myself comfortable when I found a rock near me and watched as Gabriel repeated a routine for me. "From stand-up legend George Carlin: I'm not making this shit up, why did they pick ten? Why ten, why not nine or eleven? I'll tell you why: because ten sounds official, ten sounds important.

"They knew if it was eleven, people wouldn't take it seriously. What are you kidding me, the Eleven Commandments? Get the fuck out of here but ten sounds important, it's the basis for the decimal. It's a decade, it's a cycle, it's a psychologically satisfying number so the decision to have Ten Commandments was really a marketing decision.

"And it's clearly a bullshit list, it's an artificially inflated document designed to scare and control primitive people. I'm gonna show you how you can reduce the number of Commandments and come up with a list that's a little more logical. I'll be using the Roman Catholic version since that was the one I was taught as a little boy and I'm gonna start with the first three: 'I am the Lord, thy god. Thou shalt have no other gods before me', 'Thou shalt not take thy lord's name in vain', and 'Thou shall keep holy the Sabbath day'. Right off the bat, the first three, pure bullshit!

"Sabbath day, lord's name, spooky language; spooky language! Designed to scare and control primitive people and in no way does superstitious nonsense like this apply to the lives of rational human beings in the twenty-first century. You throw it those three and suddenly, you're down to seven and the next one: 'Honor thy mother and father'.

"Obedience, respect for authority and it's just another name for controlling people. Truth is respect should not be automatic, it should be earned and it should be based on the parents' performance. Some parents deserve respect, most of them don't, period. You throw that out and suddenly, you're down to six.

"Now in the interest of logic, something religion is very uncomfortable with, we're gonna jump up and down the list and I have two commandments that belong together: 'Thou shalt not steal' and 'Thou shalt not bear false witness'. Stealing and lying, well actually these two both prohibit the same thing: dishonesty, stealing and lying, so you don't need two of them. Instead, you combine them and change the whole thing to 'Thou shalt not be dishonest' and suddenly, you're down to five. And while we're combining commandments, I have two more that belong together: 'Thou shalt not commit adultery' and 'Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife'.

"Once again, these two both prohibit the same behavior in this case, martial infidelity. The only difference is that coveting takes place in the mind and I don't think you should outlaw fantasizing about another man's wife otherwise, what's a guy gonna think about when he's waxing his carrot?" At that point, I had enough laughs for one night and asked him if we could change the subject to something else for at least a little bit. "What could there be that you would wanna talk about besides that?" he asked.

"Let me put it this way: girls," I answered. He smiled and said that he would like that since it definitely was something worth talking about. "Okay, so I'm seventy-years old naturally but I have the same experience in dating as Percy: I've only had one relationship. Believe me, it didn't last long since she soon moved out of Las Vegas in time to see her brother off to the draft and I was taken to the Lotus Casino by one of the Furies," I told him.

"I'm surprised you haven't had experiences with relationships and girls. Anyway, I have had four in my life excluding all the times where a prostitute would come in and give me freebies when I was in a fit of madness and my night with Drew Beauregard," Gabriel explained. "Tell me about those relationships, I already know your relationship with Nadine so you don't need to explain that one," I asked him. "The first two were high school relationships, the girls were named Aubrey and Venus and (knowing most of the relationships that go on at Camp Half-Blood) you can imagine what they were like," he answered.

"What about the one besides Nadine and the two you've already mentioned?" I asked after nodding to say I did know what Aubrey and Venus were probably like. He told me that I wouldn't believe him if he told me. Being a cheesy teenager with nothing better to say, I told him to try me but after what he said, I think he succeeded in surprising me. "I shared some of my life with Eos, goddess of the dawn, while I was in her service," he told me.

"Wow, if Thalia and Percy heard you say that they wouldn't believe it. Very few can ever say they went out with the dawn goddess and none have lived to tell of it until now," I said. "Not necessarily true, how else do you think we know of her relationships? By consulting the souls of the dead for the sole purpose of knowing about it?" Gabriel asked.

I had to admit he was right about that and really wished that Thalia and Percy were not out checking the perimeter at this moment. "How long did you two date?" I asked. "From the time we started until I was out of her service so about four and a half months at the very least. Whenever I think about it, sometimes I think I still love her and I wonder if she has the same thought about me," he answered.

"So is that why you stay up at least until sunrise then sleep most of the day at least once a week?" I asked. He had told me and the others that he always stayed up to watch the dawn and the sunrise as his form of worship to Eos. "Yes and that's why when her brother arrives, I try to stay up a little longer but find that I can't," Gabriel said to me. I then asked how he would describe his love for Nadine.

"It was a just a young man's foolish attempt to escape his destiny before it came at him. In truth, I cannot forgive myself for having given her children that not only died but also killed her in the process of their birth," he said. That made sense but I remember what Annabeth had told me about how he had acted around her when he saw her again in the Underworld. "I just missed her badly but either way, I will be reunited with her at the end of my life," he replied when I mentioned it.

"May I admit that I am that same way about my sister? Only without the romantic feelings that you shared with Nadine?" I asked. "It's okay to feel that way about your sister if she's dead like my ex-wife. May I ask why you asked that of me?" Gabriel replied. "Let's just say I had trouble figuring out whether or not I was supposed to feel weird about that," I told him.

"Don't feel weird about it because if you miss your sister then you miss her. What could possibly so weird about missing a dead relative, right?" Gabriel responded. "I guess there's nothing weird about missing the people you love most when they're gone. Especially if they were all you had in an alien world like this still sometimes is to me," I told him. He agreed and we resumed our watch over the ruins of Mount Orthys.


	16. Thalia: Artemis Leaves A Warning

**Thalia: Artemis leaves a warning for her loyal Hunters**

I was on the patrol for spies from Mount Orthys when I suddenly saw a girl that looked like one of my Hunters killing off a draconae. Three more approached from her flak but I destroyed them before they reached her. She saw another one behind her after I had dealt with the ones coming from her flank and destroyed it. "Thanks for your help Lieutenant Thalia," she said after we finished off two more draconae.

I told her she was welcome then asked her who she was since I had never seen her before. "Well, let's put it this way: what name begins with the letter A and ends with the letter S and is of relevance to the group?" the girl replied. I thought about it for a little bit then I remembered the name with such letters: Artemis, my commander and founder of the Hunters! "My mistress, what brings you to this side of the world?" I asked.

"I came to tell you the situation on Olympus ad leave you a warning. Our father Zeus has forbidden the intervention of the gods in the matter of Prometheus and Ouranos, believing Gabriel to be enough godly force to lead you to victory without them. I agree but his original idea was just to leave you all unaware of that," Artemis explained. "Gabriel is not a god, what gives Zeus the impression that he counts as godly intervention?" I asked.

"He has all the same powers as most of the gods of Olympus, including Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. Not only that but he has also been in the service of Olympus long enough to be considered one of us after all his heroic deeds. But now, I have to give the warning that I must leave you with," Artemis answered. A warning from a goddess was never good but one from our commander Artemis was even worse when it considered things like this.

"The Hunters of Artemis must temporarily put aside their discomfort of men and fight with them if you are to survive with Olympus' divine intervention. United, the demigods of the Olympian gods and goddesses can conquer all but divide and you shall be destroyed," Artemis said. Then she made to leave but I stopped her because I had a question for her. "What's so special about Gabriel that Zeus has decided to make him on of you in all but immortality?" I asked.

Artemis looked at me for a long moment without answering than she said something that made no sense at first. "He is the one who will destroy the sky god then become him," she said. She added that our Hunters would be coming and I had to be prepared for their arrival within the next two days. I knew Phoebe was going to despise having to work with men especially since one of them had practically killed her in their first encounter. Nonetheless, I had to make sure that all my Hunters understood that Artemis had ordered us to do our work with men for best results.

Normally, I would agree with them about it being crazy to have to work with men when they were made to swear abstinence from the company of men. But this time, I knew that Artemis had her reasons for ordering us to work with Percy, Nico, and Gabriel. "Also be warned Thalia, tension in the ranks of the Titans may change the outcome of your battle against them for the worst," Artemis said. I asked her how that was possible and she explained that though Prometheus presently held power, Atlas was not sitting too well with that.

"Very soon, Atlas could lead a coup to overthrow his brother and rule the Titans in place of Kronos and Gabriel. When that happens, you must look forward to a fight between yourselves and Atlas," Artemis explained. So Atlas would undermine his brother's authority even when it would have been common sense not to. I asked why he would do that and was told that Atlas' loyalty lies with only two figures: himself and Kronos.

Since the latter was dead, he relied on no one else besides himself and mentally outcast everyone he knew, even the closest family connections. "Is it best to try and stop this from happening if at all possible?" I asked. "Don't do anything yet, I have a better idea than destroying him but it has to work," Artemis answered. At first, I had to think about it after she looked at me in a clever way then I realized what it was.

She intended to use Atlas as her pawn to somewhat infiltrate the Titans and destroy Prometheus without even actually laying a finger. "If it works, we might not need Gabriel to destroy Prometheus after all. But that's just assuming this works out the way I intend it to do," Artemis added. "But one ambitious shall replace the old one, Atlas will be a more horrifying evil than Prometheus," I said.

"Not if we destroy him from inside than outside first. He can't be evil if he's shattered by the deaths of his brothers," Artemis replied. "No, don't proceed with this Artemis! Doing this will only make you just as evil as the Titans and you're not a Titan!" I begged.

"Wouldn't you at least like to know what your enemy's moves are?" Artemis asked. "Give Gabriel that power but don't give it to me, he is the leader of this expedition after all," I answered. "Very well, be it so that Gabriel shall have the power to see what the Titans are up to through the eyes of Atlas," Artemis said. She added on a side note that it was a shame I turned down the power to see what Atlas sees.

"Give it to him as a gift of congratulations for the victory if he defeats Ouranos though. We will be needing that ability to see when the Titans intend to strike at Camp Half-Blood in the event of Ouranos' death," I told her. "You are wise beyond your years mortal, a perfect child for Athena to have spawned from her own head but even better for being a daughter of Zeus and a member of my group," Artemis said to me. We said our goodbyes than I gathered the Hunters to prepare for what might be our final stand together.

Many of them had taken the fight against Gabriel as a serious blow to their pride but a few of them were like me since they chose to look at it as a humbling experience. However, my second-in-command Phoebe was not one of those humble ones since she was one of the elder Hunters of Artemis. And the eldest of the Hunters were seldom ever girls who took defeat by the hands of a man at all much less as well as the younger Hunters and I did. But now at last, Artemis had decreed that we do what was best and in this case, it meant standing alongside men.

I gathered all my Hunters and made them swear on the River Styx to not value the Golden Rule of Artemis over what will save humanity from destruction in situations like this. Even though we all knew how reluctant she was to agree to it, Phoebe ultimately swore to know the difference between when to obey the code and when not to. "Just understand that I intend to keep this kind of civil disobedience against Artemis to a very extreme minimum," she said. We all hoped for the same thing and even I told her that we all hoped it was kept at a minimum but as we know from experience, Fate has a way of messing with us all.


	17. Annabeth: Casting Aside An Old Grudge

**Annabeth: Casting aside an old grudge to survive**

One thing I will have to say about being the only demigod General in the absence of the four most powerful demigods in Camp. It sucks and not only does it suck, it's almost too much work compared to say doing chores for instance. But if there's anything a child of Athena likes the most, it's lots and lots of work to entertain the mind. Chiron had me come up with strategies to defend Camp and I already suggested that we get walls built in places exposed to attack like the Zeus' Fist and the forest where we play Capture the Flag.

Although a lot of Campers didn't like it, I knew it was for the better that we set up fortified walls in places like that. I even made sure to customize the walls already established around the Camp to be both physical and magical. What I wound up having was a metal wall that went around the full range of the Camp and for every thirty feet, there was a post with demigods from Camp watching the posts. On top of the posts was a signal beacon that once lit up would notify all the others to light up until all of the Camp knew of the attack.

Once the entire Camp knew of the incoming enemy there would be no hope for a surprise attack. Believe me when I say that that was a major improvement from how the walls had been before and from Zeus' Fist being exposed to an infiltration of enemy troops. Yes, we still had the magic barrier conjured up by the Fleece but for some reason, the wall seemed to make the magic barrier even stronger. When I took the barrier's strength for a test using an old cannon from the Revolutionary War (courtesy of Nico and his father Hades) and the barrier absorbed the shock like it was nothing.

Not only did it absorb the cannonball, it also thrust it back at the cannon and destroyed it almost immediately. I had also made sure to make regular trips around the wall in order to see to it that the wall was protected and some of the designs in Daedalus' laptop were put to good use. Come on, he gave it to me for finding ways to use his designs before he died and I was doing what I could to use as many as possible. I was called over to one of the beacons by a kid from the Hermes cabin because I was told that there was something wrong with that beacon.

Now I had been tricked into going to see what was wrong with beacons before only to be splashed with water or hit in the face with a pie. So I made this kid swear on the River Styx that he wasn't just doing this for the sake of playing a prank on me. The kid named Mark gave me his oath and we soon arrived at the beacon by Zeus' Fist where the "problem" originated. "Since you have the original designs for these beacons we thought you'd take a look at this beacon and tell me why the lighter isn't working," he explained to me.

It didn't make sense that the lighter wouldn't be working but then I remembered something. The lighter could only be made to not work by either my hand or the hands of a god. Now, I had never given the order for the lighter to the Zeus' Fist beacon to be deactivated so there was only one way it could have happened: a god on Olympus had chosen to deactivate it in my place. It only quick deduction through my memories to see that Hera was behind this and I immediately offered a prayer up to her to demand why she did this.

She was apparently listening and interested because she answered just a few minutes after I had made the prayer. "Ah Annabeth, so good to see such an unfortunately familiar face again," Hera teased. "The pleasure is mine my Queen, I just need to know why you deactivated the lighter for the Zeus' Fist beacon," I replied. She smiled and laughed explaining that her reason was quite simple.

"You see, normally I would continue to hold my grudges until the day I managed to either get even or the subject of the grudge was dead. However, Zeus and Athena have both ordered me to put aside my grudge to you and I tried to think of the most subtle way to get your attention. Though this was not as subtle as usually would be capable of, I had no choice but to go through with it to get your attention," Hera explained. "So you're basically coming to apologize for treating me badly like you had?" I asked.

She nodded and apologized for sending those cows that crapped on my dad's property. Generously, she also apologized for the way she had treated me afterwards before she felt that she had achieved revenge. I returned her generosity and apologized for what I had said in the Labyrinth to start the quest for vengeance. "But let me ask you a question Hera: isn't there another reason why you chose to apologize to me?

"Knowing how you operate, there has to be a bigger reason besides that why you came to apologize," I asked. Hera laughed so I knew that there was another reason for her coming to apologize to me for her vengeful actions against me. "In this dark hour where Prometheus' rebellion threatens to destroy everything that Zeus has created, it is best that the Olympians are as united as possible between both gods and demigods. But please do nothing to regress our new relationship back to what it once was," she answered.

"Please don't insult my intelligence, it makes me irritable. Percy Jackson has already seen how I am when I'm irritated," I warned. "I wouldn't want it that way especially when the lighter has be reactivated and probably will go out of control within the next few minutes," Hera replied. I went immediately to go and make sure that didn't happen, not even stopping to see if Hera had left.

The Zeus' Fist was our most vulnerable spot, I had to make sure that there was no reason for the beacon to go off. Running like a Hermes kid with a tail between his or legs, I arrived at the Zeus' Fist beacon in a few minutes from the forest where I had been. To my surprise, the beacon went off right after I arrived and I saw that there was a battalion of Titan troopers approaching. The beacon went off right on cue and soon, the walls of the camp were alerted to the presence of the battalion.

Luckily for us, it was simply just bringing in the archers and having them shoot down the battalion. Those of them who were smart retreated after seeing their friends die to the arrows of the Apollo kids. But then I realized something: that wasn't a battalion meant to attack and it definitely wouldn't even qualify as a raiding party. This was a scouting party that had tried to test us out for weaknesses.

Soon, the Titans would know how to be able to force most of our defenses to one spot so they could then bring down the main gate. I knew that I had to call for the Hunters of Artemis or some other party that could give chase to the scouts. Immediately, I ordered the nearest patrol of Hermes or a minor god/goddess to give chase and never stop until they destroyed all of the scouts. But my strategy extended past just them giving chase and destroying the scouts, it included exhausting the ones who avoided my patrols in the vain hope that they did not reveal the one weakness they had before they died.

It was a cruel tactic but it was an effective one and a necessary one to protect our camp. Optimistic as he usually was, Chiron agreed that this crude tactic was necessary and Mr. D was his usual careless self about it. My one hope was that not a single scout reached Mount Orthys alive or at least, freshly dead for the Titans to be able to read his mind for his or her last memories. But when I lied down to rest, my dreams did not exactly hint at anything improving for us; in fact, it seemed to take a turn for the worst.

In my dream, I saw thousands of soldiers training to fight with dummies that had the orange Camp Half-Blood shirts on them. Watching them was Atlas and his brother Epimetheus, the former looking a little less pleased with the soldiers than the latter. "Brother, if you're not happy about these soldiers I can assure you that they're the best of the entire army. Not only that but they will not disappoint you when the time comes to fight those accursed demigods," Epimetheus said.

"Well, our brother Prometheus does not share your optimistic appraisal of the trainees. Do me a favor and tell them to take the firmest and most defensive stance they can," Atlas replied. Epimetheus obeyed and all of the soldiers took their most defensive stance possible. He looked at one soldier and complemented him on how firm his stance looked from up-close.

"However, looks are not everything nor are looks even significant in this army," he added before dropkicking the soldier. He watched as the soldier fell down with ease and had barely had enough time to recover before Atlas had thrown down another soldier to the ground. "They are nowhere near the fighting capacity that either I or Prometheus are comfortable with!" Atlas yelled. "I assure you that I'm making strives to improve their abilities with each passing day," Epimetheus replied in calm.

"Perhaps you can tell Prometheus that when he returns from his mission with Ouranos to make special preparations for our backup plan," Atlas said. "He's returning to Mount Orthys from the mission?" Epimetheus asked. "That is correct and he is most displeased with your apparent lack of progress," Atlas answered. "Then I shall double my efforts to get them trained in time for the battle," Epimetheus said.

"I hope so Epimetheus, for your own sake. Prometheus and Ouranos are not as forgiving as I am," Atlas warned. Then he marched away to possibly walk the anger out of him, his huge broadsword hanging in its scabbard off the left waist. As he marched, his purple cape flowed with the wind and Epimetheus watched as his brother while their soldiers resumed the exercises. Then he himself decided to leave them to resume the exercises on their own for just a little bit.

I saw how his spear just barely avoided slipping under his tight grip and avoid breaking if it didn't slip from his grasp. After Epimetheus left, my dream's eye turned to see the entire army numbering in the thousands if not hundreds of thousands. All of them were training to kill members of Camp Half-Blood and all of them were training in the Ancient Ways of the Grecian warriors. But that was not the worst part that came when I saw the skies above their training ground.

The skies above revealed bloodcurdling eyes made from the stars in the night sky. A nose formed followed by a mouth with a beard separated only by the spaces between the stars as well as the shape of the facial features. Just below the beard, the distant form of Prometheus developed and descended down from the heavens with Atlas meeting them at the top of Mount Orthys. After Prometheus descended, a more human form of Ouranos followed and on his belt was the sheathed Sky Sword (also on the left waist).

The only one whose sword was not at his belt was Prometheus and he held the sheathed Black Sword of the Night across his back diagonally to the right. Before my dream ended, I saw four figures just a few miles from the base of Mount Orthys. I recognized them immediately as Gabriel, Nico, Percy, and Thalia and I knew what they were likely doing right now. If they had not already done so, they were making preparations to assault Mount Orthys before the armies of the Titans were even ready for it.

But just as I thought the dream was coming to a conclusion, an image of Hera came up and everything else disappeared. "This is my gift to you Annabeth Chase as proof of my sincerity in our little alliance. Your friends are already there and they will attack Mount Orthys on schedule. In two days, you will have to begin making preparations for any retaliation from the Titans," she said.

I woke up drenched in sweat through my nightgown and it was a good thing I had my knife within easy reach because I thought something was attacking me. As it turned out, it was just my brother Malcolm wondering if I was all right since he saw me sweating. "I'm all right Malcolm, I just had a vision about the events going on right now near Mount Orthys," Annabeth said. "Are they all right at the moment or should we be wondering about their safety?" Malcolm asked.

"I am pretty sure they're fine, I saw nothing in the vision that would hint otherwise. But I must say that the Titans are on the verge of an army more than capable of destroying Camp Half-Blood and still have the capacity to hold their own on Olympus," I answered. "A sign from the gods of events to come in the near future?" Malcolm asked. "Just one god: Hera, queen of the gods of Olympus herself," I answered.

"Why would she want to help you if she's out for your blood?" Malcolm inquired. I explained to him about Hera apologizing for treating me the way she had been and explained the reasons she gave for doing it. "Something's fishy about that but Fate shall decide whether to tell us the truth of it or not," he said with a shrug. I agreed with him because we both knew there wasn't much more to do than trust Fate to do what it wanted to with information like that.

To pass the time quietly, (this was the hour where we were supposed to be sleeping but I couldn't sleep after that) I decided to write a note for Percy to read when he got back to Camp. I made several attempts that I failed miserably at since I was a better strategist and orator than I was a note-writer, apparently. Then I asked Malcolm to help me in spite of his grouchy mood from being woken up again for a love note. At first, I was a loss for reasons to write a love-note but then I remembered that in the event that Gabriel and the team emerged victorious, there would be a big firework celebration.

Malcolm wrote the note, handed it to me, then went back to bed so that way he could get some sleep in before the morning. I read the note carefully to make sure he had copied every word correctly and even went as far as to quadruple check that it sounded all right to me. After that, I made sure to put it in the left back pocket of my jeans that I intended to wear tomorrow so that I didn't forget it. With that all tossed aside, I decided to try and get some sleep since Chiron would be needing me in the morning to make the final preparations for the event of the Titans assaulting Camp Half-Blood.

One thing I knew was that fortifying new walls and constructing beacons would be pushovers compared to the things I had to do for the next week. I just hoped that I would have my Percy back by then to keep me sane inside the insanity of next week.


	18. Percy: Helping Rekindle An Old Flame

**Percy: Helping to rekindle an old flame**

I was on patrol to make sure that my group had not been spotted yet when I realized that my shift was almost up and soon it would be Nico's turn. Thalia would be returning at the same time to give her shift over to Gabriel in order to keep us safe until we were ready to make a move. I turned around on the trail I was at (for the sake of confidentiality, I will not name it but it is near Mount Tam) and returned to our little mini-camp immediately. But just before I got to camp, a voice called to me and I was forced to follow in order to find the source of it.

I went through camp and at first, Nico thought I was being a klutz but Gabriel stopped him before he could stop me. "No Nico, I recognize this for what it is since I've had it happen to me before. The goddess of the dawn is calling him to her as she once called me," Gabriel added. "Then where do I go to find her?" I asked.

"You go to where you hear her voice the clearest then you wait for her to take you to her realm. But be warned, fail to heed this and you will never have a chance to talk to her until the next dawn. And I'm pretty sure we're running out of time at an unreasonably dangerous rate," Gabriel answered. I did as was instructed and followed the voice to where it was loudest then waited for Eos to come to me to take me to her domain.

Then something that felt like a gentle hand closed my eyes and I apparently fell asleep for the ride. When I awoke a few minutes later, I was in a cemented stadium with a garden to one side and stairs leading to some sleeping chambers on the other. "Come Perseus Jackson, I await you in my chambers," the gentle voice of the goddess called. I walked up the stairs leading to the sleeping chambers and soon, I arrived at a massive chamber that had at least twelve enormous beds that had curtains to pull over for privacy at night.

Six beds were on each side but there was an equally large bed in the middle with the goddess Eos sitting in it. "Welcome my friend to my Palace of the Dawn in the Western end of the Earth," Eos greeted me. "The honor of meeting you is all mine, Lady Eos," I replied as I tried to kiss her hand in formality. "Oh please, I'm not Aphrodite nor do I need such formality however polite it is," Eos assured me.

"Then if it is not too rude, I would like to ask you why you brought me here. Could you not have brought Gabriel here or maybe one of my friends from Camp?" I asked. "I brought you here because I have no courage to ask Gabriel what I wish to ask you in person," Eos answered. Somehow I knew this was going to involve the relationship between Eos and Gabriel before I met.

"Does this involve what you two had in the past or no?" I asked. "It does and it especially involves what happened toward the end of our relationship," she answered. I knew better than to ask what happened but I guess she must have been reading mind since she knew I was curious to find out. "Just four days before his service to me ended, after we had had our nights of pleasure as a means of me moving past my father, Zeus came to me and told me to tell Gabriel the truth about his mother," she began.

"He told me that all he remembered of her was her name and the sound of her laughter," I said. "And that was all he knew of her until Zeus stepped in during his service to me," she said with a nod. When I urged her to do so, she continued with what she had to say. "Over the next two days, I continued to share my bed with him but even the love I made with him was not enough to keep me from thinking about what Zeus had me tell him.

"On the night before his final day of service to me, I told him about his mother and about why he only remembered her laughter and name. She had not died at birth like he had been led to believe by his uncle and his aunt but rather, she died protecting him. Protecting him from his father Kronos when he came to destroy Gabriel that is," she explained. She inhaled deeply then exhaled slowly as she told the tale from Gabriel's past.

"Mary ran to the shrine she had built for me with baby Gabriel cradled in her arms and prayed to me for protection. I took Gabriel into my arms but before I could save his mother, Kronos separated us and killed her. But I assured him that she went down fighting that wicked Titan with valor and courage. He was not even a year old when Kronos had tried to destroy him and I knew that I couldn't hold on to him as Zeus forbid such a thing.

"I took him to his mother's brother and his wife for safekeeping. Since they reeked of mortal stench, Gabriel was protected for years from his father and the other Titans. When I told him that what he had went through was to protect him from the greater evil that is his father and the Titans, he made a new vow. By this time, he had vowed to avenge his family but he made a new pact specifically deigned to deliberately see his father disgraced.

"This new vow was that he would hunt down any Titan who was not affiliated with Olympus even if he had to spend the rest of his life doing so. I cried because he had dedicated it not only to his family but also to me for I had never had never been added to a list of dedications for a quest to glory before. He and I made love one last time then he left the next day to begin his service to my sister Selene," she told me. I listened to her story but found it extremely difficult not to cry as she told it.

Then I heard something that I knew was not true. "He probably thinks ill of me for revealing what the truth to him. Does he ever talk ill of me for what I had told him on his final night of service to me?" she asked. I hesitated, unknowing of what to say to her to make her happier and more comfortable about Gabriel.

Then I knew what to say since I remembered something that my mother told me when I was a little boy. "Son, whenever you are dealing with people in love, sometimes it is best to know one and use your knowledge of that person to comfort the other. However, it's even better if you do it in the simplest of words to the person requesting knowledge of the ones they love," she told me. At that point, I knew what I had to say to make Eos feel better about Gabriel's feelings for her.

"He still loves you but he does not know if you love him back. He worships you everyday by watching the sunrise," I said. She looked up to me like she couldn't believe what I had just said but we both knew it was true. "Thank you Percy for wiping my fears away from me. I have one more favor to ask of you, son of Poseidon: will you take this necklace back to him when I take you back to your camp?" she asked as she unlatched a golden necklace with rubies on it.

I extended a hand and she put the necklace in it, telling me that Gabriel deserved to have it back as proof of her love. "I'm sorry but he deserves to have it _back_?" I asked. "He had Hephaestus make it for me once, he wore it for a while but he decided to give it to me before he left to serve my sister. Tell him that the powers of the dawn and the sun will spare no mercy to Prometheus on that day when Gabriel finally confronts him in a final battle for the world as long as he wears this necklace," she answered.

I nodded and said I would do all she asked then she gave me a gift of her own. It was a pale-blue emerald with a chain around tied to it for me to wear around my neck. "Keep this or give it to your beloved Annabeth, this is my gift for you to use as you please," she told me. I thanked her and was guided back to the hall where I had been when I entered her domain.

Shortly thereafter, I was taken back to the camp with all the gifts that Eos had given me and Gabriel asked me how the conversation went. At that point, I could not talk since I knew how he would react if I said anything about the conversation and instead, I handed the necklace to him. "She still loves you and she wants you to know that the powers of the dawn and the sun will spare no mercy for Prometheus as long as you wear this necklace," I said. Gabriel looked at the necklace after taking it into his hand for a long time then said that he had had Hephaestus make it for her a long time ago.

"She wanted me to give it back to you as a gift from her," I told him. He held it in his hand as he clenched it hard and a tear fell from his eye as he held it close to him. Then I saw him put it around his neck and vow that he would make sure that Prometheus faced him under such conditions. "But not today, today we will focus on defeating Ouranos and stealing the Sky Sword from him," he added.

I nodded and kept my necklace safe in my shirt pocket before going back to the tent to rest from the patrol. "Percy, can I tell you something real quick?" Gabriel asked. I nodded and I asked him what it was he wanted to say. "Thank you," he said and that was it.

I told him he was welcome and then saw him off to the patrol that he had to undertake. Nico also underwent the patrol and I sat with Thalia in the tent to talk about anything. Normally, she would not be working with men as her mistress Artemis forbid even the slightest amount of contact with a man. But this time, we had something that we were both thinking about that we wanted to talk about: Gabriel.

"When I first met him, I knew we were going to be friends if we were not fighting each other. He's one of the best I have had since Charles Beckendorf or even my friend Grover," I said and that was true. "When I first encountered him, this feeling of warmth and comfort with him came over me like a high-paced tsunami. I am still not sure if it was love or if it was even just a temptation that he created for me," she said.

"Well, one thing I will say: you certainly don't want it growing large enough to make Artemis suspicious of your loyalty," I told her. "I have been making strives to keep it from growing too much because I know his heart belongs purely to Eos now that he has laid Nadine to permanent peace in Elysium. I just wonder for him and wonder if he is really truly safe from the threats that surround us," she assured me. "What threats do you mean exactly because I'm pretty sure he's safe from any threats the Titans can make to him," I said.

"Unless it's against someone he loves (of whom he does not have that many) you're right. But I am seeing how he is trying to get over the guilt caused by his family's deaths but his guilt is winning over his psyche," she said. "I hope it doesn't come as a distraction when he finally fights Prometheus," I said. We agreed on that then rested from our work earlier on in the day before we were told it was time to begin the assault.


	19. Nico: Resurrecting Dead Souls & Price

**Nico: Bringing the souls of the dead to life for one last fight and "aftershocks"**

Before we even had to go on another patrol, Gabriel announced that it was time to bring back the souls of the dead. "Our army awaits our next orders, it is best that we not keep them waiting any longer than they already have," Gabriel said. Quickly, we examined that Orthys was protected by revived Persian soldiers from the Greco-Persian wars then I formulated a means of countering them.

I decided to conjure the Greeks who had defeated them combined with the armies of those who had been conquered by them in years preceding the Greco-Persian wars. An army like that with vengeance in the cold empty spaces that used to be in most of their hearts was an army not to be taken lightly. I smiled because I realized that Erebus' blessing had made me much stronger than I normally would have been and I wanted to test the enhancement of my powers for this assignment. "Give me some space, I don't think they're going to be coming out with a good mood on them," I said.

Gabriel pushed Thalia and Percy back then backed up with them, wisely heeding my warning. "Hey Nico!" Gabriel called before I started with the spell. I turned to him and asked him what he wanted to say. "You have the powers of two gods in you, use their powers well and use them plenty," he said.

I nodded to implicate that I understood what he meant and thanked him for the advice. Knowing what to do in order to use Erebus powers effectively and with great efficiency, I plunged my sword almost all the way into the ground and made sure that my palms were safe from any light while they did their work. "Souls of Hades, souls of the ancient times," I began.

"Move it people, move it. This is some serious crap if it's done right!" Gabriel exclaimed. "How many souls would he be reviving if he succeeds?" Thalia asked. "Let me put it in these terms: they'll outnumber the Persian souls by nearly two times as many," Gabriel answered.

That was the last thing I heard before I continued with the spell. "Souls whose lives were ended by Persian blades, souls who fought against them even when there was no hope! I command thee to stand with the Grecians who defeated them and obtain the retribution you rightfully deserve," I chanted. Then I fell into a trance and chants of Ancient Greek came uttering from my mouth as though I were fluent in the language.

I felt the souls course through me and I even heard some of the souls of the commanding officers swear their allegiance to me and anyone of my friends immediately present. "Swear allegiance to me, Perseus Jackson, Thalia Grace, and Gabriel Johnson for the duration of your temporary return to Earth," I replied to them. They did in the mutually Greek custom of swearing on the River Styx to take commands only from the four of us as long as they were on Earth. Then I commanded them to rise from the Earth and take the vengeance they rightfully deserved against the Persians who had made them suffer a blow to their honor while they were alive.

First came the victims that had fallen to Persian blades before anyone else. Then came those who went after them and also died before their nations were conquered by the Persians. Finally, the last of the nations that had been conquered by Persia came and the beginning of the Grecian line of warriors was underway. Figures like Leonidas (who stood against the Persians at the Thermopylae pass) and Alexander the Great (who had struck the blow that destroyed the Persians, by the way) saluted me.

All of them in the order I had mentioned came surging through my body and took a firm, upright stance for the first time since they had died. Gabriel laid out the strategy for them as they arrived and I just continued to have souls fly through my body from my sword. The most frightening thing about this was that I saw all of this happening while I was continuing with the ceremony that would bring hundreds of thousands of souls back to life once finished. When at last, the Grecian warriors began coming from the Underworld, Gabriel told them that until they at least made it into Mount Orthys they were under Thalia's command.

As for me and this whole operation of bringing souls back from the dead? I felt like my own life was fading away from me fast but not that as much as my consciousness. In the case of my consciousness, I felt like I could sleep for days or even a couple of weeks since my need for recovery would be that bad. _Be careful Nico, you almost sent yourself into a two-month coma doing that _I heard the voice of my father say.

_What's the worst I'm going to suffer from this? I know that I'm gonna be physically suffering from this _I asked him. _The worst you're going to take in is a three-week period of sleep that's consecutive. And trust me, you'll wake up with the desire to eat more than you've ever eaten in your whole life, which would be good for you after a three week sleep _he answered.

_You've done this sort of thing before? _I inquired. _Let's just say that I was lucky I was a god and therefore have little if any understanding of what it's like for you _he assured me. I smiled and even chuckled at that happy little note from the ruler of the Underworld a.k.a. my father. Then I fell into darkness, the last memories of consciousness being Gabriel picking me up and Thalia wondering for my safety.

Percy was also assuring her that I was going to be fine and that I was going to recover from it. "Welcome to the world between death and life where all those who have been rendered unconscious go," said a god I had never met before. "Who are you?" I asked. "I'm Hypnos, god of sleep and I will be your host while you are in my domain," the god answered.

"What about my friends, will they be needing me anytime soon?" I inquired. I had to make sure my friends would be all right without me for the few weeks I would be knocked out. "Thanks to your temporary loss of consciousness, they will not only be fine but will also have the manpower to overrun Orthys in a maximum time of two days and a minimum of not half that," Hypnos assured me. "You look familiar, have I seen you somewhere before?" I asked.

"Hmm, you might have seen me in your sleep before Morpheus entered to grant you dreams. Unless you also saw my half-brother Thanatos, he tends to rub off some of his more-deathly-traits on me," Hypnos explained. I thought about that name for a moment because it also sounded familiar then it occurred to me. Thanatos was the god of death itself and related to Hypnos through their mother Nyx, goddess of the night.

"Do not worry, my half-brother has no power here unless I consent to him having power but even then it is very temporary. You will be safe for the duration of your stay in my domain," Hypnos told me. That was one less thing I had to worry about in all the things I had to worry about. Still I wonder if getting back to the conscious world was going to be an easy ordeal or if it was going to be very painful.


	20. Annabeth: Preparing For The Unavoidable

**Annabeth: Preparing the campers for the inevitable**

Chiron called an emergency meeting that I had to attend to just a few days after the incident with the scouting party. The meeting was simple enough with only the cabin counselors brought and boy was I in for a surprise. Chiron told me to tell them about the incident with the scouting party and the fact that a few had escaped. "At this moment, I do not know if the survivors of the scouting party made it back to Orthys but since it has only been a few days since the incident I have confidence that it is not the case," I said in a brief but understandable report.

"Well that's just great brainiac, how are we going to prevent the Titans from taking over Camp Half-Blood if they decide to mount a full-scale war?" Clarisse of the Ares cabin asked. "According to a dream that I had, the recruits are not yet confident of their skills and must be tested before Prometheus and his brothers can carry out any assault on this facility," I answered. I remembered that dream very well since Atlas was unusually disquieted by the lack of training in the soldiers they were using. "Let's hope they haven't laid their hands on a weapon that could help them through our walls if they attacked," Drew of the Aphrodite cabin said.

"Drew, don't you be worrying about that when you don't even know how to use a knife to cut food. You're no warrior, you're just a laid-back coward who seduces boys to her bed when she chooses," Clarisse said. "Is that a challenge because I have enough power to take you down?" Drew asked. "Oh what, you're going to put makeup all over me and dress me up?" Clarisse snapped.

"Enough both of you, this is exactly what I do not want us doing when the Titans come marching on our doorstep! Stop this immediately or I will find replacement counselors for both of you," Chiron ordered. Clarisse was quick to back down but Drew insisted on looking very spiteful and vowed silently that Clarisse would pay dearly. She even vowed that she would get Clarisse the moment this war ended and they didn't have to work together.

"Annabeth, what do you suggest we do between preparing for war and waiting for them to come to us?" Chiron asked. "I suggest both, prepare for war in a way where when they come we will destroy them. The way I have seen bigger armies being taken down throughout history is that they were brought on the domain of the smaller enemy," I answered. "Please explain that in a manner we can all understand what you're saying," Clarisse said.

"Let me put it this way: in chess, the pawns go first. Our pawns go first to lure in the enemy then our stronger forces unite with them to destroy the Titan forces," I replied. "Are you suggesting that we put the new arrivals and all the children of the minor gods first then bring in our stronger ones?" Drew asked, surprised. "By the time they realize that they are fighting stronger demigods than they thought they were, it will be too late for them to escape," I explained.

"Don't worry, you're not going to be put on the spotlight just yet. Besides, we can't have all of our cabins fighting," Chiron assured her. "That is correct and I was thinking of it this way: everybody has a function whether for combat or not. In the case of the Aphrodite cabin, their purpose would be to deliver supplies to certain rendezvous points," I explained.

"Then what about the Hermes kids? They would certainly be faster than the Aphrodite cabin members in that case," Travis Stoll of Hermes asked me. "You would be better for espionage, messaging, and stealing items from the enemy. On top of that you can each hold your own against enemy soldiers if you were caught for a short period of time besides, the Aphrodite kids need a purpose even if it's a lazy one," I answered.

"Wouldn't the Hypnos kids be good for an espionage mission since they don't even have to go behind enemy lines to spy on them?" Amy Delgado of the Hypnos cabin asked. "You would be good for espionage in the sense that you can hear entire conversations but sometimes, we don't need conversations but items," I assured her. "Then I will have my fellow campers be sure to do the best they can on that end," Amy said. I nodded to her then Drew asked what the Aphrodite kids would be doing.

"Let's just say we'll have you put to work delivering supplies to the Asclepius children when they need medications to hand the wounded and/or infected. I will also be needing your assistance in bringing food and beverages to tired soldiers that can't reach the pavilion such as those who are assigned to the sentry posts," I explained. "That is certainly better than being asked to pick up a sword and slay monsters thus ruin your makeup, right?" Chiron asked Drew. Most of the cabin leaders, including myself, laughed at that comment because for once Chiron had the joke and not a Hermes kid.

"Morpheus forgives the mistreatment of the greater gods and will allow his children to fight for you," Jose the leader of the Morpheus cabin swore. "Nemesis, goddess of revenge, has consented to her children fighting for you!" Karen of the Nemesis cabin agreed. We heard oaths made on the River Styx until all of our new arrivals agreed to fight with us when the time came to fight. "Then let us prepare for the battle for Camp Half-Blood, we're at war with the Titans," I said.

"Spears and shields would be nice for us," Karen said. "Katanas are our specialties," Jose said. "I will have the Hephaestus kids on it as soon as possible," I replied to both of them. "The Hecate cabin would like to have guns if possible and make those shotguns, it is a good backup when our magic fails," Lou Ellen of the Hecate cabin said. "I will have a box established by the Hephaestus cabin where you can write your requests," I assured her.

"If this is the case, I'm going to look at the box at the end of each day during the preparations. I am pretty sure I will get some incredible requests that will surely challenge the Hephaestus cabin," Jake Mason, the leader of the cabin, said. "Pray to your father that you'll have the manpower and skill to fulfill every request," I agreed. "With preparations underway, I declare that (both in the absence and the presence of Gabriel, Percy, Thalia, and Nico) Annabeth shall be Supervising General and Supreme Strategist of the preparations for our new war with the remaining Titans of Kronos," Chiron shouted.

I was surprised to hear that but then yet again, I was the one coming up with the ideas for the war preparations. "She, Percy Jackson, Nico di Angelo, and Thalia Grace will be of equal power. However, for Gabriel I am making him my equal: Supreme General of Camp Half-Blood's mobilizing armies," Chiron added. He concluded by saying that Percy, Nico, Thalia and I answered to him and Gabriel.

"Mr. Chiron before the meeting is dismissed, I would like to ask why Gabriel gets such a prestigious position when he hasn't even been here a full year. I don't doubt that his lineage, which is mutual to yours, counts but besides that why?" Drew asked. At first, Chiron hesitated and I guessed it was because he was at a temporary loss for words since he never saw it coming. "He's dealt with entire armies by himself before and has even killed at least four Titans, I figured his experience would deserve a prestigious position in this camp," Chiron answered.

Murmurs flew throughout the entire meeting room and such comments as "He's a god-slayer?" and "He's killed gods? I thought gods were immortal and could not die" went around. To pacify their need for answers, Chiron ordered them to silence and asked me to explain the logic behind it. At first, I had my moment to lose my train of thought but then it came to me quickly. "Killing a god is possible, it's just incredibly hard to do for those that don't know how," I began.

"You mean to tell us there's a certain way to kill a god?" Clarisse asked, excited by the idea. "It's not that there's a certain way, it's that it usually requires a lot of power to be able to kill a god. Though the Olympians are superior, the Titans by themselves are not to be underestimated when one intends to go to combat with them. Yes the gods are immortal however, they are not _invincible_," I answered.

Everyone, including Chiron, listened in silence as I explained what I meant. "Immortality means that no natural means of death can affect you such as old age or disease. However, invincibility means you cannot be killed by weapons, poisons, and other unnatural means of death. To top it all off, the gods are just… physical incarnations of a magic that we mortals can never destroy: the magic of the universe," I explained.

"Annabeth is right even if a god is destroyed, their essence continually exists as part of the magic of the universe. That extends to any immortal including myself so technically, we too have an afterlife just like mortals," Chiron added. "That explains a lot and it sure does explain how the heck the Titan Krios might have disappeared with the fall of Mount Orthys," Will Solace said. Everyone agreed with nods of affirmation and also thought that it made sense.

"Yes, Gabriel is a God-slayer but only when he needs to be such as when he fights Prometheus for instance. Another instance is when he slew Hyperion as a test of his abilities for us before we had him brought here," Chiron added. Everyone was taken by surprise and many asked Chiron how it was possible for Hyperion to escape the prison that Grover had created. "It's a long story but in the end, Gabriel silenced him and that was the end of any rebellion from Hyperion," Chiron replied.

"Enough talk, the more we talk the more time we give them to attack us. Let us begin preparations by first adjourning this meeting," I ordered. Chiron agreed and adjourned the meeting for us to begin preparations for Prometheus' inevitable assault on our camp. "I'll have a box ready to accept requests shortly Annabeth, count on it having to be emptied at least twice," Jake said.

"Believe me, I'm not worried about that. All I'm worried is if you have the manpower and the skills for such tasks as what may be requested of you," I told him. "By the gods, you worry too much for just us. Why not worry instead for whether or not the Aphrodite children will even do their part?" Jake asked.

I snorted in agreement and told him that perhaps that was better. "Or better yet, why not pray to the gods that Gabriel, Percy, Thalia, and Nico will succeed in their forcible entry of Mount Orthys?" Jake asked. "That I will most definitely do because if they don't succeed, the retaliation of the Titans will be brutal, savage, and without mercy," I answered. "Good luck on getting at least your mother to listen, you know how the gods can be sometimes," Jake said and I nodded.

I watched as he then walked back to his cabin and I was amazed he was even walking. Because for one thing, he was wearing a full body cast thanks to burns from our mechanical dragon Festus for crying out loud! Believe me that was enough to make even Chiron wonder how he was still able to move around as though it was no big deal. Then Katie and Miranda Gardiner came up to me and asked what they could do to help with the war efforts.

"I think you will be most useful creating food for us just in case strawberries and the pavilion food are not enough. In fact, come to think of it, you would be most useful as cooks since you do have the ability to grow and manipulate plants plus your mother is the goddess of agriculture," I said. "I will have my fellow cabin members begin work as soon as possible," Miranda said. "Is that what you want, for us to start ASAP?" Katie asked.

I nodded and they ran off to tell their cabin members what they would be doing. Castor of the Dionysus cabin also asked me what he could do for the camp and I told him that created healthy beverages and growing more strawberries would definitely help the cause. "I'll be sure to have my cabin members begin their duties and also may I add that they will have to defend the fields if the Titans get through the walls?" he asked. I nodded and he thanked me before running off to inform his own cabin members of their responsibilities for the assault from Prometheus. When I finally arrived at my cabin, I must have had at least six cabin counselors ask me what they could do to help and my brain was just too fried to do anymore.

I lied down on my bed and that was when Malcolm had returned from one of his chores. "Hey sis, you awake?" he asked. I told him I was and asked him what it was he wanted to tell or ask me. "Between you and me, I just received a private Iris message from Percy Jackson while you were in the meeting," he told me.

"What did he have to tell me?" I asked. "He told me that he was about to lead the first assault on Mount Orthys and Nico had been knocked unconscious in the process of bringing up an army but in case he died, he wanted you to know he loves you very much and thinks of you a lot," he answered. I thought about that and admitted that I found it very sweet and comforting to know he was alive. "Did Gabriel have anything to say before the Iris message disconnected?" I inquired.

"Just to have the campers ready for battle as soon as possible, regardless of the success or failure of the mission to steal the Sky Sword and defeat Ouranos. Thalia wished you luck and preparing us for our renewed war with the Titans and wished she could be here to help you now," Malcolm explained. "Did you tell them that I said thanks and that I wished them luck?" I asked. "That was the first thing I did just before I lost contact with them on the Iris message," he answered with a nod.

_Hopefully Seaweed Brain comes through, Thalia and Nico too. As for Gabriel, I not only hope he makes it but that he has the Sky Sword in his possession when they return _I thought to myself. But then, Gabriel sparked other thoughts in me like how he had changed the whole feel of the Camp ever since he arrived. Just one visit was enough to change everything besides Drew's sexual status of course.

I wondered what it was about him besides his past that brought about that special aura he always brought in. By the time I fell asleep, I was inconclusive about anything and decided that for now it was best if it stayed that way and I could solve it later.


	21. Percy: Leading The Assault On Mt Orthys

**Percy: Leading the assault on Mount Orthys' already ruined palace**

Nico's sacrifice had brought us all to this point starting with my lead. So I made sure my soldiers knew what I was getting into before I ran toward the gates of Orthys with Thalia at my side. The first thing that happened was that we came under the firepower of the Persian archers but Thalia allowed me to duck behind her shield while they shot at us. We simply brushed off the firepower of the Persian archers, which followed with the laughter of our soldiers just before they returned fire with their archers and cleared the front gates for us.

Once we were past the front gates, the assault towards the base of the mountain was somewhat easy but required some extremities. Because I bore the curse of Achilles, I could not die but I decided it was best that I didn't look like a walking pin cushion when we were under the fire of their arrows. Thalia repeatedly jabbed with her spear and even killed some of the soldiers on her side while I had my hands full on at least thirteen Persian soldiers. All of them fell before me with ease and I realized that it was mainly because of the fact that they had no actual armor but instead, were covered in a material hardly any thicker silk or polyester.

I dodged arrows and used a nearby spring to wipe out the archers shooting at me before I turned the water around to help Thalia escape from the Persians surrounding her. Soaked as she was, she thanked me for saving her life but then we wondered where Gabriel was and we saw him closing on the stairs leading to the Black Throne. "Holy crap, how did he get ahead of us while we were busy fighting Persians down here?" Thalia asked. "I don't know but I think it might be best to catch up with him and help him the rest of the way," I answered.

Thalia then improvised on how we could get there by using the wind and lightning powers of her father to temporarily clear a path for us. Once we reached Gabriel though, he told us to be prepared for the arrival of some of the Titans. "There are three Titans with Ouranos, expect two of them to be sent down to separate us from one another," Gabriel shouted over the clash of swords against swords and spears against shields. "You make it sound like a pleasantry," Thalia teased.

"If one of the Titans sent to separate us is Atlas, I don't think pleasantries will be provided dear niece," Gabriel replied. "Hey uncle Gabe, how about showing a little more optimism? The assault has been going as planned so far and I think it will keep that way at least until we reach the Black Throne," I shouted to him. "Don't count on that luck remaining for long, even if there is a chance we can reach the Black Throne before it runs out," Gabriel told me in a tone that normally would have been assuring but this time, it wasn't.

Thalia blocked arrows flying from the right, I deflected arrows coming in from the right, and Gabriel just simply let the ones straight ahead bounce off his armor. We even had a couple of spears hurled at us from certain directions and watched our step since we knew we could be surrounded at any moment. Then just after I had that thought, we were surrounded by enemy soldiers and they told us to drop our weapons and surrender. "I would be the first to gladly drop my arms if it weren't for the fact that your enemy soldiers are cutting down your men from behind and will soon undo your little trap," Gabriel replied.

A Persian captain turned in the direction Gabriel pointed to see that that was true and he ordered the soldiers to quickly forget about us and rush down to defend against the Grecians. Gabriel smiled and told us that the reason that gag worked was because souls of the dead could only focus on one thing at a time. "But you have to make sure you're giving them a big task otherwise they won't turn away from the task they're already doing. The Grecian souls fighting for us are a larger threat to them than four people and so they decided to let us go because of that," he explained as we continued our ascent.

Gabriel cut down souls that got in our way unless they reached my sword or Thalia's spear first. But as I climbed up the stairs alongside Thalia and Gabriel (we had seen to it that Nico was on his way back to camp earlier), I experienced something I had never had outside of sleep. A premonition on what was to happen possibly within the next few moments since I was still on Orthys when in the dream. In the dream, we had reached the top of the mountain as well as the doorway to the Black Throne.

Then a figure with a huge spear in hand came out and challenged me to a duel. I knew it was a Titan from the way he presented himself so I made sure to try and warn Gabriel and Thalia when I had the chance. And I accepted knowing that it would allow my friends to reach the Black Throne and find Ouranos thus finding the Sky Sword that we had come for. Just as the premonition ended, the Titan I had seen in my dreams showed up at the front door to the Black Throne.

"Gabriel Johnson, I challenge thee to a death-match!" the Titan shouted. "I speak and fight for Gabriel, if you wish to fight him you will have to destroy me first!" I replied. "No Percy, that Titan is too powerful for you!" Thalia said. "No that's Epimetheus, Prometheus' weaker brother and trust me when I say Percy can take this guy," Gabriel assured her.

"Besides, you get a chance to reach the Sky Sword without interference if you go and I fight him. Go now while you still can!" I shouted. "He's right Thalia, let's get a move on before Epimetheus changes his mind about letting us pass to duel with Percy," Gabriel told her. Gabriel rushed Thalia on while I stayed with the Titan and the fighting armies below us at the base of the mountain.

"We meet at last Perseus Jackson, he who single-handedly defeated Kronos on Mount Olympus nearly four weeks before," Epimetheus said to me. "I should assume that we've met before but I don't quite want to do that," I responded. "Well, I was briefly by the side of Antaeus before my brother recalled me if that's what you mean," Epimetheus said. Then I remembered where I had seen him, his blond hair was what had started the kick to remembering him in the Labyrinth.

"Enough talk though, I suggest we fight before my brothers think I am committing treason," Epimetheus said before thrusting his spear at me. I dodged it then slashed just behind the head of the weapon with Riptide. Unfortunately, I missed my mark because he was whirling the spear around to hit me in the back of the head. I dodged it quickly then charged at him to place a stab on his chest until I noticed that he was whirling the spear again but in the opposite direction to try again in hitting me.

Then I noticed that there was only one way for me to dodge the blow to my head: jump up and over Epimetheus. I swung Riptide over my head and made the jump on a hunch that I could dodge the blow and simultaneously strike one of my own at the Titan. The jump succeeded and I timed it just right so that I slashed up from just above his backside and ending just before I reached his head. Grunting, Epimetheus was stunned long enough for me to dive back to my feet and turn to make another blow.

Then Epimetheus turned and jabbed the spear at me with all his fury. I dodged the blow and pushed the spearhead to the ground before punching my enemy in the face. Without even realizing my own strength, I shattered Epimetheus' nose almost completely and I watched as ichor freely flowed in both of his nostrils and into his lips. But Epimetheus disregarded that injury and attempted to give me a punch to the face for me to experience.

I barely dodged by leaning back then I decided to come back by giving him a head butt. To my surprise, I hit his left temple and I watched as the injury swelled to interfere with the sight in his left eye. But the most miraculous part of that was that there was no swelling on my forehead since I used it to hit him hard enough for his whole left temple to go purple. "You will pay for what you have done, I promise you that!" Epimetheus shouted in pained rage.

"Um, you know you can heal from all these injuries in a minute with just the power of your mind right? You're a god, you can do that you know," I said. Okay, I'll admit that I was asking for it but I heard that Epimetheus was actually pretty dumb compared to his brother. It's not that I was _hoping _he knew he could recover from his injuries, it was that I was counting on the rumors being true to the point where he didn't even know his own abilities.

Then the funniest thing happened and it was so funny that I was laughing about it afterwards with my friends. He literally dropped his spear and began thinking about that to the point where he was scratching his head. Now I was really realizing what Gabriel meant when he said that I could defeat Epimetheus easily. It wasn't that Epimetheus was not a powerful god (he was actually the most powerful of the Titans second to Hyperion and third to his brother Atlas).

The truth was, for all his trouble, he was not a really bright one. It was truly no wonder why Prometheus was disappointed in him when he had squandered the gifts his brother had intended for man by making animals with them. Then again, I had to remember that because of that, Prometheus was able to give the greatest of all: a human heart that was similar to a gods heart. It was almost disappointing that I had to fight Epimetheus but as we all know, we do what we have to in order to insure a safe world.

While he was still thinking, I stabbed him in the abdomen, slashed him across the kneecap, then watched as he fell down to the ground in defeat. "Sorry dude but if you wish to kill a demigod, let alone your brother, you're going to have to learn about what powers you have and don't have," I told him. "I know enough to call upon a swarm of my soldiers to destroy you while I figure out how to recover from these wounds," Epimetheus replied. Sure enough, he did and I had no chance to join up with my friends like I had originally intended to do after defeating Epimetheus.

I called upon the Grecian warriors and they managed to send me three hundred Spartans, six hundred Arcadians, and about two hundred Athenians. Luckily, that was all I needed to get through the mob of Persian soldiers but by the time I got through I knew I would have to leave. But that was all right because my part here was done and Epimetheus had cowered away when his goons attempted to kill me. "You've done well soldiers now go and see if you can help our friends inside the Black Throne," I told them.


	22. Thalia: Kronos' Domain & The Foe Within

**Thalia: The domain of Kronos and the enemy waiting in its remnants**

Gabriel and I rushed into the beginning halls of the Black Throne of Orthys after Percy went to hold off Epimetheus. We ran with Gabriel leading the way on hunches on the quality of his memory since the hall was undoubtedly a mess. The bricks of partially destroy pillars were scattered around the floor so we had to watch our step.

Drapes were torn nearly all the way and pieces of those drapes lied around where they had fallen. Some of the pieces were even burned as though the Titans had torched them when Kronos died. The only thing intact was this door-shaped pillar of green-yellow light that shone brightly from its end of the hall and almost to ours. "It's a portal to the upper levels, I know because I used it to complete my escape from Mount Orthys," Gabriel explained.

"Does it have any time-limits?" I asked. He shook his head and said that as long as some magic remained in Orthys, the door would stay open. "It needs very little magic to be activated so it's not a gas guzzler (so to speak) for the magic power of the mountain. In fact, it requires almost no magic save its creation and purpose (which is very minimal if you're a god)," he added.

"Do you know if it's still safe to use it to get to the upper levels?" I asked. "Yes it should be, especially if the Titans have been through it lately," he answered. "What does it do if they go through it, does it keep it safe for our use?" I inquired. "It's not that it's unsafe unless they pass through, it's that if the levels of magic power it could essentially vaporize us while we're in the middle of it; even gods are affected by this," he explained.

It was nice that he explained that for me because afterwards, he told me to hold my shield out in front of me and have my spear ready to attack anything. After a while, he told me that the coast was clear and I could ease it up a little bit. "Let's go through the portal, I think we can find Prometheus and Ouranos if we go beyond the door. We may also be able to find Atlas if we're lucky," he said.

"How would it be lucky if we found Atlas alongside his brother and Ouranos?" I asked. "Let's put it this way: you fought Atlas, now he'll want to get even with you and you can draw him away if not kill him. If you defeat him, there will be quite some glory in it for you," Gabriel answered. "I should presume that it would be more glory than Hercules or Perseus?" I asked. "Anytime you defeat or kill a god, minor or major, it's more glory than just some monster like Medusa or the Minotaur," he answered.

"So let's see Percy has defeated both Ares and Epimetheus so he has quite the glory. And you've killed how many gods and/or goddesses now?" I inquired. "Excluding that time when we dueled with Oceanus and the times I dueled with Prometheus, I have defeated at least four gods. I defeated Perses, Hyperion, Nyx, and Tethys in individual duels and out of the four I have killed two: Hyperion and Tethys," he explained.

"Let me guess, you were doing it in the name of the gods," I said. "No, Hyperion was a case where I was obeying orders and Tethys was killed because of self-defense," he replied. "Self-defense, was this earlier in your career with the gods?" I asked. "Yeah, I was in the early months of my service to Helios when she attacked me," he answered.

"Did Helios and his sisters have a problem with you killing their father when Hera ordered you to?" I asked, curious about his service. "Yes and no; yes they wanted their father punished even if it came down to me doing it, no they didn't want him dead since he was their father after all," he told me. He added that though that was the case, they stood down when Hera insisted that it had to be done. "Besides, I hated Hyperion anyway for making Eos cry on that night when I had to tell her he sided with my father," Gabriel said humorously.

We walked into the portal and were instantly transported to the upper levels where we knew evil awaited us on every turn. On the other side of the portal, we saw a fork in the hall that led two ways. According to Gabriel, the left was the one he had been on when he escaped from the dungeons. "Because that one leads to the dungeons, the one on the right must lead to the Throne room and that's where we'll hope to find Ouranos and Prometheus," he said.

But something compelled me to head for the dungeons, a tiny but traceable reading of a demigod aura. "Gabriel, I sense something down in the dungeons that could be a surviving prisoner. May I go and investigate while you go on ahead and fight Ouranos?" I asked. He nodded and told me that it probably would be best if I did that since any chance of recruits was a good one.

"Plus there may be those who failed to escape last time I was here and were put back in the dungeons under more extreme circumstances," he told me before saying goodbye. I went down the hallway to the prison but before he was out of sight, Gabriel told me to be careful. "If Atlas is down there, only a clever trick will save you from him as it did Hercules and Percy," he warned. "I understand and tell me if an trick based on environment helps," I said.

"It does so when and if you face him, try to use the environment to trick him. That is your best chance if you are to defeat him," Gabe replied. I thanked him for the advice then headed down the hall for the dungeons in the hope of confirming whether or not demigods were there. It was a long walk but when I arrived, I wish I didn't have to see some of the things that I had to see.

People who had long since died were still chained to the walls of their cells and the cell doors would often be partially destroyed in some manner of explosive means. By that I mean that at one gate, all but some of the bottom and gear to open and close the door remained intact. Some of the demigods that were dead had blade wounds where either the Titans or whoever destroyed this place might have attacked. I even saw one woman with a gouged-out eye as well as a slash across her chest and abdomen while her hands were firmly wrapped around two of the bars of her cell.

Blood stains ran across the floor and walls as though the Titans had used blood to scrub their dungeons. Flies swarmed around many of the dead demigods some of which, I dared not touch with my hands in case they were diseased in a contagious sense. But in the distance I heard a whisper: "Help… us". It repeated often enough to where I could follow it to its source, which was a demigod with two broken legs that were covered in blood and ripped trousers that exposed the infected wounds on his legs.

He also had three broken fingers on his right hand and a dislocated shoulder on that same arm. His left hand was slashed across the back of it from the index knuckle to the left side of his wrist. But most disgusting of all was that he had burnt patches of skin where once hair had been on his head, burns that extended all the way to one ear and malformed it. The hair that remained was sticky, blood-covered, and lice-filled thanks to probably no baths for a long time.

A bruise that never healed had swollen his left temple to the point of taken the vision out of his eye on that side. When he breathed, he wheezed slightly and asked if I was really here or if I was just a hallucination. "I'm really here and I'm here to get you and any other survivors out," I told him. Then I asked him what his name was and at first, I thought he was going to die trying to answer.

But fortunately, he managed to tell me that his name was Conan and he was a son of Saturn. "Saturn, how come I have never heard of him?" I asked. "If you know Gabriel Johnson, it's his father's Roman form," Conan answered. One, I didn't know Kronos had a Roman form and two, I was surprised to hear that this guy was related to Gabriel. "We're half-brothers, Gabriel and myself plus almost thirty thousand other children of Saturn," Conan added.

"Saturn had thirty thousand kids? How come we've never heard of this?" I inquired. "For one, not all of the children of Saturn are his by blood but by rite of passage. The ones with an actual connection to Saturn are in high power where we live whereas people like myself who tagged along cover the bulk of our people," he explained between breaths. "And precisely where do you and your people live if it's safe to ask?" I asked him.

"Located deep in the Appalachian mountains, in a place called Saturn's Land," Conan answered. "I have never heard of it," I said to him. "Neither god nor demigod has except for the children of Saturn and Gabriel. Long ago in Roman legend, my adoptive father Saturn had once been accepted as one of the Olympian gods of agriculture after his defeat at the hands of Jupiter. Contentedly, Saturn served alongside his daughter Ceres as a fellow god of agriculture.

"But one day, Juno the queen of the Roman gods deemed Saturn a threat to the integrity of Olympus. She betrayed him and cast him out of Olympus in spite of Jupiter's protest afterwards. Betrayed and exiled, Saturn vowed vengeance on the Olympians and saw to it that his children as well as anyone who went with them were stationed in the Appalachians in Saturn's Land until the time was right. But one day, one of his children realized that Jupiter could not be defeated and decided to betray his father as well," Conan explained.

"So what did he do?" I asked. "With the aid of three sisters and two brothers, he cut Saturn's soul out of his body and imprisoned it in a medal statue designed in his image. As long as Saturn's soul and body are not rejoined, Saturn himself will never have his powers even if he still has his immortality," Conan answered. I nodded then I asked him if there were any other survivors besides himself in this chaotic hellhole.

He pointed to some of the people behind him and I thanked him. But before I could act, I heard a voice I knew all too well. "Even if they have survived this long, I doubt they will be alive much longer," Atlas said from behind me. I turned and saw the brute standing on top of a tall staircase in the same fashion that Darth Vader did in Star Wars.

He even had a cape and helmet to match but his face was clear for me to see. "Last time I saw you, you were acting on your cowardly brothers behalf in preventing us from stopping Ouranos' resurrection," I taunted. "And last time I saw you, you were cowering under your shield for protection against my broadsword," Atlas replied, also trying to taunt me. "Come down here and we can settle this once and for all," I told him.

To my surprise and to my eternal delight he obeyed and jumped down to face me. Now I remember Gabe telling me to think of a trick that required environment in order to save my skin when battling against Atlas so I looked around quickly. In the distance, I saw a fiery light that looked like a furnace and I knew I had my charm if I could get to it. By this time, Atlas had unsheathed his broadsword and was moving so fast that I barely had time to raise my shield as his sword came down on my head.

In response, I jabbed at him with my spear repeatedly and at different angles. Unfortunately, all of my attempts were deflected by him and I was once again on the defense. But instead of being helpless, although I had to deceive him into thinking I was, I turned myself so that my back was facing the door to the furnace. He kept on battering me in the hopes of a victory point while I turned myself in proportion to the furnace and was even pushed a little closer by Atlas' attack.

I jabbed again to remind him that I was very capable of fighting and even scored a graze across his shin with the front edge. As was part of my plan, it angered him and he hit my shield harder than he had before and was pushing me closer to the furnace. It was still another two meters away from me so I had to keep up a strong defense until I could reach it with occasion offense. When I was closer enough to the furnace door, I used the butt of my spear to press the button that would open the door then continued from there.

Now we were in the furnace for the final stages of my plan, which would be slightly postponed by Atlas' next move but not altered. He literally tore the shield Aegis off me and threw it into the fires below the rail we were on. Now I knew I had to go on a full offensive if I were to survive without my plan backfiring on me. I jabbed and thrust at Atlas and even went to the trouble of using my spear in the same manner as a sword and slashing at him.

But he had me beaten down at one point when I had to use the rod of my spear to defend myself and it bent toward me. "It's always a pleasure to take a brave warrior's life," Atlas said, intentionally mocking me. Not only that but it seemed like he was savoring a kill he thought was to come. I guessed it was due to the fact that since the time he killed his daughter Zoë Nightshade, my predecessor in my position, when she stood in Artemis' defense.

Then I noticed that there was an opening behind him that would lead to a fiery death for mortal and god alike if either one was to be thrown in. So I whirled around and used my spear as balance. I gave Atlas a good kick in the chest and face, sending him flying over the rail and to his death in the furnace below. He survived the fall but burned to death in the furnace's fire below and he shouted to me calling me a fool.

"What's so foolish about the move I just pulled off?" I asked him. "This furnace is the heart of all Mount Orthys, my power is enough to destroy it. Once the heart of Orthys is destroyed, this entire realm will crumble down to oblivion in fifty-four minutes," he answered. "Well then, I take you and this realm today as additions to my victory as a heroine," I said.

Then that reminded me to go back and check on the prisoners I had left behind. My greatest hope was that at least Conan was still alive so I could rescue him and maybe a couple others. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me back to the dungeons and out of the furnace to find only disappointment. When I returned, Conan was on his last stretch of life and everyone else was dead. He handed me a note just before he passed on and told me to give to Gabriel and reluctantly, I agreed to hand the note over to him.


	23. Gabriel: Duel with Ouranos & Prometheus

**Gabriel: The confrontation with Ouranos and Prometheus along with aftermath**

At long last, I had arrived at one of the biggest moments of my entire career. Today, I would choose between taking my revenge and forgetting about the Sky Sword or attacking Ouranos and stealing it from him. I unsheathed both of my swords and thought about the difficult choice before I went into the Throne room where my father once ruled supreme. _All right Gabe, today is not the day for revenge; you must get the Sky Sword at all costs and if you kill Prometheus along the way, that's fine _I told myself.

Then I stepped into the Throne room for the first time since I met my father for the first time. "Welcome to your destruction Gabriel Johnson, so sad that you came alone though," Prometheus said. "I only need myself for this mission, you know that to be true Titan!" I hissed. "Oh so I suppose there was no need to bring in Thalia Grace, Perseus Jackson, and Nico di Angelo along?" he asked.

"That's none of your concern Prometheus, now are we going to get this show on the road or are we just going to stand and talk?" I asked. "I was about to ask that same thing of the two of you myself," Ouranos answered. Sure enough, the Sky Sword was in his right hand and his shield was on his left so he was ready for battle. I prepared myself with the two swords I had in my hands and had one pointed at each of them since I did not know who was going to attack first.

To my surprise, both of them moved to attack at the same time but I had knew that this was not something to panic about. I simply surged enough power in to the sword on my left hand to create a bomb powerful enough to destroy any shield simply by touching it. Yes I would be sacrificing one of my swords but it was better than fighting both of them while Ouranos had that shield plus it would temporarily catch him off guard. When my sword was ready for its final blow, I threw it with all my might (I'm right-handed when I throw) and I was slightly surprised to see I didn't miss.

While the explosion was going and the light of it was distracting Ouranos, I put up a defense against Prometheus and briefly twirled blades against him. We had a moment where our blades crossed but that was when the explosion ended and Ouranos was regaining awareness of his surroundings. I pushed Prometheus off me and deflected a blow from Ouranos' blade and was locked for several seconds in a hold neither of us wanted to let go of. But when I saw Prometheus coming at me again, I knew I had only two options at that precise time.

The first option was to get out of the hold, kick Ouranos down and fight with Prometheus for a bit (again). But the second option sounded even better to me and would go along with the plan better. The second option was that I would quickly muster up enough power to push Prometheus through the wall behind him and out Orthys. I went with the second option and it worked brilliantly and almost instantaneously.

Since Prometheus was caught off guard by it, he was sent flying through the wall and down to the base of the mountain. Now, even if he temporarily transformed into a bird, he would never reach us in time to save Ouranos if I was quick. I broke the lock and resumed slashing, twirling, spinning, and hacking with my remaining sword at Ouranos who deflected them repetitively with the Sky Sword. But as annoying as it was, I was caught and yet another lock of our blades but thankfully this was not one with a weird angle like some of the previous ones had been.

During this one, I looked into the intense eyes of the elder sky god who had preceded both my brother Zeus and my father Kronos as ruler of the Heavens. I had heard that a weakness of most primordial gods (like the Titans) was that if you made them angry, they would perform sloppily. With that in mind, I decided to mock Ouranos with some comments that I know would have pissed off Zeus with ease. "Now I see how you could have the cold heart to cast your own children into Tartarus," I said.

"Oh yes, and how was that?" he asked. "Well let me put it this way, you were born an incompetent idiot that was unfit to rule the universe. Oh and your son cut off your balls so now, you don't even have a sex-life," I answered. Ouranos took the bait and pushed me off him before gathering enough power borrowed from Light to use it against me.

"For that insolent remark, you will pay dearly! Feel the power of a star's core!" he shouted. I shielded my eyes just before he turned on the incredibly bright light that was reminiscent of the sun. "Now, burn mortal as so many others before you have burned under the might of this star's power," he ordered. My armor protected me from the star's power but I knew that if I didn't reach Ouranos soon, the protection would not last and my armor would fail me.

That's when it occurred to me that he had thrown the Sky Sword into the air as if priding himself on destroying me with this attack. It was almost working but I had an idea that would work if I didn't miss the sky god and boy was this risky. I threw my remaining sword in front of me, where I remembered Ouranos last being before he unleashed the attack because I knew that usually a powerful attack requires you to stand where you are no matter what until the attack is over. Carefully and strategically, I painted a mental picture of Ouranos in my mind and pictured where his heart was then aimed precisely where I thought it would be.

Being careful to keep my eyes shielded from the light, I hurled my sword with the strength remaining in my right arm. To be the most precise, I even threw it as though I had had a javelin in my possession and waited for the light to go out from the impact of the blow. I knew the blow succeeded when the light vanished just barely more than a few seconds later and I heard a loud cry from Ouranos. When I lifted my arm down, the sword had gone almost all the way through my enemy with only the hilt sticking out and a portion of the tip sticking out of the back.

Then, knowing that now Zeus would inherit all the powers of the sky, so I just sat back and watch as a single blue beam pierced the sky. It drained Ouranos of both his power and his life in a single, rapid shoot to the night sky where it belonged. In the process, my last sword was destroyed but it was great to know that Ouranos was dead when his body burst into flame as a signal of his death. At that same time, I saw the Sky Sword drop and pierce the cement deep enough to stand firmly upright.

Seeing that Prometheus had not yet arrived and probably would not, I savored the sensation of obtaining the Sky Sword. Yes, I had sensed the destruction of Orthys' core but even with that there was no need to rush just yet. Slowly, I extended my arm and was a far enough distance to where only my hand could reach the hilt. Finally, I grab it and pull it from the marble floor below my feet and feeling the power surge into my veins.

I proudly held it with the sharp tip facing the domain from whence the weapon came. The thunder growled as though Zeus had noticed that I had obtained the Sky Sword and I knew I would have the power to destroy Prometheus once and for all. "Thank you brother for entrusting me with the only power to even closely rival your lightning bolt," I said, knowing better than to take full credit for the victory even when I had every right to. Smiling, I decided to test its power against the forces protecting Mount Orthys and that was just assuming they would oppose my escape.

I walked out of the Black Throne room but not before I took one last look around at the place that my father had once ruled. Then I said aloud to no one else: "I can't focus on you forever father, I have already surpassed you." After that I turned my back on the Black Throne completely and even went as far as to use the Sky Sword to seal the entrance. _This thing doesn't kid around when in use _I thought to myself with a smile.

Having already mastered the abilities required for a two-handed sword, I let the Persian hordes pour on me before annihilating them all. It was so easy destroying the legions of Persian soldiers that it was barely even fun to see them be cast back into the Underworld just because I tested the Sky Sword's power on them. I fought and slashed my way through the hall leading back to where I separated from Thalia with ease and was surprised to find her close behind me. After finishing off the remainder of our current enemy, I asked her if she found any survivors in the dungeons.

"There was one who was alive long enough to tell me about a place called Saturn's Land. He said his name was Conan and handed me this sword just before he died," she said as she lifted a sword I recognized almost too well. "That's the Sword of Saturn, it's said that as long as a child of Saturn holds it Saturn's Land will never die," I said aloud. "So it exists then?" Thalia asked and I answered by nodding before asking her to give the sword to me.

She must have learned that Saturn was the Roman form for Kronos because she was quick to hand it to me. "So are all of the people of Saturn's Land your siblings?" she asked. "Not by blood no but I am still related through an oath of kinship. Did Conan tell you how Saturn's Land started before he died?" I replied.

"Yes but something about it doesn't make sense. We serve the Greek gods and are children of them yet here is this Roman god with children of his own. Could that mean there are more Roman gods out there and if so, how is that possible?" she asked. "Put Annabeth on the investigation with her brother Malcolm, they have a better chance of figuring it out than you do but I can tell you that the gods of all cultures exist from China to Egypt," I answered and that was true.

But that would have to cast aside for another time when we aren't on the run from a collapsing palace. "Thalia, let's find Percy and get the hell out of here before this place collapses. If the stairs are destroyed, I'll use my telekinetic abilities to steady your wind powers while we make the descent. Once we've met up with Percy, we have to get as far away as we can from the mountain before Orthys collapses completely," I told her.

She agreed and we ran for the portal just before it faded away completely. On the other side, we didn't even see any trace of the portal but rather we saw a blank wall like the rest of the room we had started at. "Now let's find Percy and get out of this place quickly," I said. But Percy found us and we all had to descend down the stairs as they started to crack and crumble beneath our very feet as we ran.

"The stairs are leveled, we're going to have to make quite the feat to get out of here," he said. "Thalia, manipulate the winds as best you can and I'll do what I can to steady the three of us," I said. We gathered around Thalia and wrapped our arms around each other so that we didn't lose our grip once we were descending down the mountain. "Take us to the lake by the mountain, I can carry us quite a distance away from this place if you do," Percy said.

I nodded agreement and told him to guide Thalia towards the lake so that it could be done. He gave directions after Thalia began bending the winds to her will and I stabilized her power with my telekinesis. "Turn left and head diagonally downwards then I'll tell you when to stop," he said. I held onto both of them as we made the plunge, my fingers barely even reaching each other as we flew down to the lake together.

I kept us on a straight path (just barely) and Thalia brought us to the lake so fast that Percy barely even had any time to tell her to stop. When she did stop, we were just above the surface of the lake and Percy brought up the levels of it enough for us to safely stand up on it. "Percy, I'm gonna try and buy you some time if necessary so just concentrate on raising the waters enough to launch us out of here," I told him. Percy nodded and closed his eyes to concentrate on commanding the water to carry us away from the base of Orthys.

Oddly enough, the Persians kept on fighting the Greek and I only had to kill those few who wandered to close to the lake for comfort. The sad thing was that I was sacrificing all of these great soldiers to destroy Mount Orthys and obtain the Sky Sword. But then I took solace in the fact that they were already dead and would have willingly given up their lives a second time to destroy the enemy once again. "Percy you ready with your little water-launcher idea?" I asked and he nodded.

After that I told him to do it and we were blasted off faster than any gun could ever have launched us. We shot clear over the walls of Orthys, far past our camp, and landed near the border between San Francisco and Nevada. Thankfully, we were not wet but now we had another problem on our hands: contacting Chiron and telling him the mission was a success. "Hey Percy, you got anymore of that water on you because we need to get an Iris-message to Chiron?" Thalia asked.

"No but there's a shop right across the street where we can possibly get water guns at," Percy answered. Sure enough, he was right about that and I decided to go in and see if I could buy a water gun for us. "Thalia , hold camp here and Percy, see if you can find some water to fill the gun up with water if it's necessary and bring the water back in this," I told them, handing Percy my cape. I handed the Sky Sword to Thalia and held onto the Sword of Saturn while I headed for the store to see where their best price on water guns were.

I returned with a really good one shortly thereafter and made sure to have a drachma for Thalia to use in giving the message while I fired the gun. Percy returned with the water and we were fortunate enough to tell Chiron himself that we had a successful mission. "Chiron, this is Thalia calling on the Iris service and I would like to report a successful mission. I repeat, we have successfully destroyed Ouranos and stolen the Sky Sword from him and we have also obtained this weapon called the Sword of Saturn according to Gabriel," she said.

"Congratulations you three, we have obtained Nico and have sent a chariot to pick you up. State your location and it will arrive quickly," Chiron said. We did and a chariot came to pick us up in a matter of minutes; I could hardly wait to get back to Camp.


	24. Annabeth: Sky Sword & The Aftermath

**Annabeth: The Sky Sword and what happened next**

I had gathered the camp for a celebration in the name of the team for successfully grabbing the sword and bringing it back to camp while killing Ouranos and destroying Orthys. Fortunately, I was able to keep the crowd from being so wild that even Gabriel would be crushed under their weight. Chiron was there with me and we were both the first to greet the team as they came back on a chariot normally used by Iris and was being driven by Butch. They arrived in a matter of minutes and the crowd screamed all at once with praise and reverence for their new leaders.

"Well done, you four! Together, you have destroyed Ouranos, stolen the Sky Sword, and brought it back to Camp safely along with another weapon that we will take now for investigation," Chiron said. "Actually Chiron, I suggest you let me keep it as I already know who it belongs to," Gabriel replied. Though a bit surprised, Chiron agreed but gave him a surprise of his own by giving him his rank as Chiron's equal for the duration of the war effort.

"Thank you Chiron but may we know where Percy, Nico, and Thalia rank?" Gabriel asked. "They are Annabeth's equals, all four of them answer only to you and I," Chiron answered. "Let me guess, you gave me the rank because I have killed immortals before, including Ouranos and Hyperion," Gabriel said. Chiron nodded and asked if he was the one who killed Atlas at Mount Orthys.

"Actually, that was my doing and his death destroyed the mountain's core. Because of me, Mount Orthys was destroyed but it's because of Gabriel that Ouranos is dead and we're in possession of the Sky Sword," Thalia answered. "I forsook my own revenge against Prometheus since he was also there in exchange for obtaining the Sky Sword," Gabriel added. "You mean to tell me you fought two gods simultaneously but killed only one?" I asked.

"Yeah and Percy also had a victory against one of the Titans too. He defeated Prometheus' brother Epimetheus in single combat," Thalia answered. Percy blushed when I looked at him for confirmation of this victory and I knew that they were telling the truth. "We will have a firework show in their honor tonight, bring a date with you and a picnic blanket as it's going to be a long show," Chiron said.

Drew Beauregard showed up at that point and asked Gabriel if he would like to be her date to the picnic. Although he had previously accepted her advances, he ignored her as he asked Thalia to join him. "I'm a lieutenant of Artemis, you know that," she said. "Just because I'm asking you to join me doesn't mean I wanna bang you; I mean you did kill Atlas, didn't you?" he replied.

She admitted that was true and said she would be glad to share Gabriel's picnic basket with him. "Wait, what about me?" Drew asked. "What about you, just because I had sex with you doesn't mean I love you. I was in a fit of madness given to me as a curse from the gods, now that the curse is over I can't believe you were one of my victims," Gabriel answered.

Drew ran away at that point but not before she vowed revenge on him. "Yeah yeah, I've killed immortal gods. What could _you _possibly have that I should be afraid of?" Gabe replied before forgetting about her entirely. "Tonight when the show begins at 7:00 then?" Thalia asked and he nodded.

Percy stepped up to me and asked me if I would like to go to the firework show with him. "Do you really have to ask, Seaweed Brain?" I asked him. "I don't know, do I Wise Girl?" he answered with a smile. We both walked away from that with a promise that we would be going to the firework show together.

Curious to see the Sky Sword for myself, I went to Gabriel and asked him to show it to me. When he did, I was amazed by the design of it and the fact that it was a two-handed sword rather than anything Grecian. "If you're amazed by this, take a look at the Sword of Saturn," Gabriel said before showing me the sword Thalia had taken from Orthys. "The man she took from kept it until the very moment he died, which was when he gave it to Thalia," he added.

"Who is Saturn? I have never heard of him in any of the Greek legends about the gods?" I asked. "He used to be the Roman ego of my father Kronos before he manifested into his own deity and turned his back on the Greek entity. Saturn's children are the leaders of a town they named after their father: Saturn's Land and it's located in the Appalachian mountains. A drive would be one or two days from here but by Pegasus, you reach it in a few hours," he answered.

"Could we Greek demigods see it if we wanted to?" I asked. "Depends on whether or not you found it by chance. I found it by chance, revealed my heritage when I was brought there, and now I have permission to go back there when I wish. You would be allowed in if you accompanied me but besides that you would have to find it by chance the way I did," he explained.

I nodded and thanked him for explaining the whole reason for the sword. "See you at the show tonight?" he asked. "Yeah, me and Percy will even park our blanket next to yours if you want," I answered. "Sounds great, I'll see you there then," he said and I nodded in agreement.

The only thing I felt ashamed of was the fact that Nico was not going to be conscious in time for celebration but not to worry. We'd most likely be having a celebration when he revives even if it doesn't involve fireworks like this one will. I tried to think only of the good time I would be having at the celebration but one thought never escaped my mind. Would Camp have fallen period if Gabriel had been on the side of the Titans from the start?  
What if Kronos had somehow survived through Gabriel but was manifesting into a whole new being? Could Prometheus know how to use his revenge against us in the future? Besides those questions, I readied my stuff for the picnic tonight and even made sure to look good for Percy when he came to pick me up as was the plan for tonight. I wasn't sure what to braid my hair with so I just straightened it and got on a nice shirt to go with my jeans.

Then Percy came for me an hour or so later and we walked to the Long Island Sound for the firework display. Percy and I set the blanket next to Gabriel's, which was already being sat on by Gabriel and Thalia, after we arrived to the Sound. After that Percy suggested that we lie down and make sure we were comfortable before the show began. "Like I need to be told _that _Seaweed Brain," I retorted with a giggle.

He lied down on his back while I lied my head down on his chest, listening to his heart beat as the show began. Briefly, I turned to see Gabriel and Thalia sitting up and believe me I was glad they hadn't even touched each other. Not just because Thalia was bound to her service to Artemis but because even if she wasn't, I don't think Gabriel and Thalia would have been in love. Just then, the Hunters of Artemis came from behind them and told Thalia that Artemis had ordered Thalia to separate from Gabriel.

"I am the lieutenant and I order_ you _to let me stay with who I choose!" Thalia replied. "Go with them Thalia, it will help them recover their pride faster if you are not sitting here with me," Gabriel calmly told her. "Oh it's not our pride that's the issue, it's Artemis' rule of chastity that has us on these orders," Phoebe snapped. "Okay it's both but so what?" Gabe asked.

"If we were not in Camp Half-Blood, I'd make you eat those words for your last meal," Phoebe hissed. "Yeah right, you couldn't kill me last time so what difference does it make now? Besides, if you did kill me you would be the offender of Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Demeter, Hestia, and Hera. Through them, you would also offend the entirety of Olympus besides your mistress so I would not touch me if I were you," Gabe countered.

Phoebe marched away with Thalia but not before the latter woman apologized for what happened. "It's okay, I had a backup plan in the even this happened. All I have to do is flip this drachma and ask her to join me if I wish to not be alone," he said. She smiled and rhetorically asked how she knew he had something like that to say.

"I'm a son of Kronos, I always have something smart to say to everybody," he sarcastically replied. "That's more often than a child of Athena, are you sure about that?" I asked. He laughed and answered that he was not sure about that and both Percy and I cracked up at that. "So who's your backup plan if Thalia was to be taken by the Hunter of Artemis?" I inquired, curious.

"Let me put it this way: she's the dawn," he answered. "Eos? She would go on a date with you to a firework show? How do you know there's not a better one on Olympus right now?" I teased.

We laughed at that joke but soon after, Eos appeared behind him, covered his eyes, and told him to guess who. "Eos, goddess of the dawn and the woman I love in spite of my fits of madness where I committed unreasonable acts of infidelity," he answered. "Long time no see, my love. How are you tonight?" Eos asked.

"Well, I've killed Ouranos, forsook my own revenge to do it, obtained the Sword of Saturn from Conan through Thalia, and destroyed Mount Orthys with the help of my friends but besides that I'm perfect. What about you dear Eos, how are you doing?" Gabe replied. "Oh, let's just say I'm in the mood for some fireworks and lying down on the grass with my love, Gabriel Johnson," Eos said. He kissed her and made some space for her to lie down with him as the fireworks ignited and exploded in the sky to celebrate Gabriel's victory.

It was a spectacle unlike even the July fireworks or any other celebration that I've been around for. As I lied on Percy's chest and Eos lied on Gabriel's we watched as the spectacle of the century played out its part. Almost all the campers even stayed after the fireworks ended and slept right there on Long Island Sound. It was a magical night with an equally magical ending that I don't think any camper would be forgetting anytime soon.

Six days later…

Percy, Thalia, and I were gathered in a meeting that also included Gabriel and Chiron. This meeting was about drawing up battle plans in case Prometheus decided to continue with his assault on Camp Half-Blood without Ouranos to help. "If Prometheus wants to guarantee victory, he'd come at night since he would then be under the protection of Nyx but our camp is designed so that he would have to narrow down his numbers a bit. He knows the risk if we have him do that and will most likely see if he can attack from a distance first," Gabriel said.

"Then wouldn't it be wise to set up our cannons so that he would have no choice but to risk narrowing down his army in order to really do damage?" Thalia asked. "How the hell can we do that? Fly the cannons right behind him and force his armies in by blasting away soldiers at the rear?" Gabriel answered.

"He's right and besides, if we do that then we risk compromising what our plan is to him. But my question is this: if he can see the future, won't he already know what our plan is?" I asked. "That's a good question Annabeth and I have an answer: he prides himself on trying to do what he can without his ability to see the future," Chiron said. We all nodded in agreement on that and continued with the plan from there.

"Let's see what we can do to force him in our domain _before _we resort to the cannons. They're some of our most powerful weapons and I'd hate to lose them before we actually need them," Gabriel said and we agreed. "What about the lake that will surely be at their flank when they arrive? Perhaps I can use my connection to my father's realm to have that lake flood them in," Percy suggested.

"The distance of the lake from the camp plus its quantity would surely take a toll on you. Are you sure you'd be up to Percy?" I asked. "I'll see what I can do if I'm given a chance to use my abilities to force him in," Percy answered. "Well Percy is right in his implication of one thing: we're all taking risks when he attacks camp, even my brother Chiron and I," Gabe agreed. "Then perhaps our concluded strategy shall be to have Percy use his connection to his father's realm to force the Titan forces in the narrow terrain leading to our camp then slaughter them at the walls?" Chiron asked.

"It's a crude strategy, but it's our most effective one if we add the way we'll arrange our soldiers. Percy and I have decided that perhaps it would be best to have the minor cabins fight first so that they have a chance to prove themselves worthy of us while simultaneously holding down the fortress," I answered. "If I may say so, there may be a better and less risky way of drawing them into our trap. It will be more long term but we may have a long time before Prometheus attacks the Camp," Gabriel said.

"What is it that you would have us do, Gabe?" Thalia asked. "Perhaps send in a spy, preferably a child of Hermes considering that their natural ability to deceive can even fool the gods, to make Prometheus bold and confident. If there's anything I know from my days slaying immortals it's that they _crave _only hearing the good things about themselves. Perhaps we can deceive him into thinking he can destroy us easily, regardless of what his premonitions tell him or better yet, it could make his premonitions simple enough for that spy to easily manipulate them for our purposes," Gabriel explained.

"Seems safe enough and we have only to lose that person who would volunteer to venture into his camp. As for whether or not we can be safe, let's hope the volunteer buys us time to be ready for war," I said. "Then is it agreed that we find one amongst us who is experienced enough and brave enough to infiltrate enemy lines and act as a spy for us while also poisoning Prometheus' mind in the sense that his own power turns against him?" Percy asked. "All who are in favor say 'aye'," Thalia agreed.

Chiron, Thalia, Percy, Gabriel, and I all said aye and settled for that. We walked out of the Big House at that point but instead of the usual calm, we walked into a frozen crowd that stood staring in one direction. Along with the crowd, we turned our gaze to that direction and saw a woman coming up the hill carrying a man by the arm across her shoulders. Even from here, I could make out that his arm was swollen purple just above the elbow and could make out that she was saying that she was in search of Gabriel.

Gabriel rushed to them as if he knew them (I later realized he did) and asked what happened. "He's been bitten by a snake, he needs medical help quickly!" she said. "Yes and no ordinary snake: it's the bite of an Egyptian Asp. Somebody get me a stretcher to take him to the Asclepius cabin fast," Gabriel ordered.

Two Apollo kids came back with a stretcher and with the woman's help, Gabriel parked the dying man on the stretcher before he was taken to the Asclepius cabin. I ran to see if the Asclepius kids could pull off their first real operation or if we would need the infirmary medics for that. "I don't know how Brian lasted this long but I highly recommend amputating his arm in order to save his life," Gabriel said. "Well the venom is coursing up his blood stream at a level of two inches per four minutes and it's already past his elbow," one Asclepius kid (Emilio) agreed.

"My guess is he used his power to contain the venom to his arm so if we do sever it, we may be able to separate the coagulated blood from his healthy blood," Dr. Fernando added. "Do it, whatever it takes to save his life, do it!" Gabriel said. "We have the tools for amputation, problem is we've never done it before and we may possibly kill him," Emilio said. Gabriel shook his head and said that was not true so Emilio proceeded to strap the boy called Brian down while he went to get the anesthetic to knock him out while they amputated him.

A nurse named Betty came with the anesthetic injector and on Emilio's signal, injected it through Brian's neck and knocked him out instantly. Fernando grabbed the amputating blade at that point and began to surgically slice into Brian's arm, which I could not watch. Emilio got out another blade that he made red-hot under a fire while Fernando continued the operation. When I turned back to see the operation, Emilio was just beginning the cauterization of the stump and I wish I had not turned to see that.

"Gabriel, why did you let them do that to your friend?" I asked. "Because it was the only way to save him. Besides as much as I hate these sorts of operations even I am willing to consent to them. By the way, he's not my friend, he's my brother just as Stephanie here is my sister by the god Saturn," Gabriel answered.

The girl called Stephanie was panicking in the background but Gabriel calmed her down. "Listen to me, tell me what happened and tell me how he got bitten by an Egyptian Asp," Gabriel told her. At first, she spent some time calming down then proceeded to tell him something I would never forget. "Saturn's Land, Gabriel; Saturn's Land has been destroyed," she said.

"Destroyed? How in the name of all the Olympians is that possible?" Gabriel asked. "Prometheus sent his brother Epimetheus and their armies under the cover of night and burned Saturn's Land to the ground. They slaughtered men, women, and children alike and only a couple hundred are alive including me and Brian," Stephanie answered. Gabriel was silent for a moment then he told us that we would have to go to Saturn's Land.

"This is our chance to make them suffer before us and this is our chance to kick some ass," Gabriel said. "Please, let us stay here for a while before you go back there?" Stephanie asked. Gabriel nodded and said that he would not make a move towards Saturn's Land until Brian was fit for travel. Then Brian awoke and whispered, "Gabriel, you son of a bitch, I'm… glad… we found you; help us now… as you helped as before… and I will consider us… even." We had no words for that and knew we had some questions for Gabriel, which he said he would answer with Brian's help at a later date.

To Be Continued…


	25. RotT: SaSL: Title and Table of Contents

Revenge of the Titans

The Skirmish at Saturn's Land

By

Christopher Cleveland

**Table of Contents**

**Thalia: Meeting the children of Saturn (an amazing incident)**

**Percy: Learning more about Saturn's Land and our guests**

**Annabeth: Chiron's secret mission for me and farewell party**

**Gabriel: My decision to help an old friend**

**Gabriel: Letting Brian lead the way to Saturn's Land and an old foe**

**Annabeth: Gabriel reveals his greatest weapon to me**

**Annabeth: Accidentally separating from Gabriel and Brian**

**Annabeth: Facing Hyperion's trap and learning Allie's secret association**

**Gabriel: Epimetheus and Hyperion reveal their ultimate plan and Saturn's return**

**Gabriel: One of the greatest sacrifices I ever witnessed in my life and my final battle with Hyperion**

**Gabriel: Parting ways with Brian and returning to Camp**

**Annabeth: Talking to Gabriel about Brian**

**Thalia: Artemis has a new mission for the recovered Hunters and me**

**Percy: Gabriel and Annabeth's return to Camp and Nico's return to consciousness**


	26. Thalia: Meeting The Children of Saturn

**Thalia: Meeting the children of Saturn (an amazing incident)**

Nearly a week ago, we had received two new demigods into camp with an interesting history covering their lives. Their names were Brian and Allie, both of whom claim heritage to a very different deity from any we've had before: Saturn. When they arrived, Brian had endured the bite of an Egyptian Asp and held it to his arm with magic before it began to cause him great pain and his hold weakened. Yes the initial bite is painless and yes, it is painless when it courses through your bloodstream quickly but it's when you notice it and decide to stop it that it becomes a problem.

Though his arm was useless and would soon kill him if we didn't amputate it, he showed no interest in us so much as my friend and uncle Gabriel. For five days, Brian was unconscious and then for another two, he was recovering in our Asclepius cabin a.k.a. the infirmary but he could tell us his story. I went in one day, when no one else was there, and introduced myself to him before interrogating him about his purpose here. "The day we were forced away from home started like any other," Brian began, lamenting on the details as well as thinking hard to recall everything.

"Allie and I were two of the twelve leaders of Saturn's Land and were of the highest rank: Archbishop. Her brother Conan and our friend Caitlin were also Archbishops and below us were four others called Bishops. They were my brother Roy, Allie's cousin Jacob, my wife Marian, and my sister Cleo with four Archdeacons below them: Daniel, Zeke, Stella, and Jennifer and we were the leaders of Saturn's Land. A peaceful, cloudy (with a chance of rain) day had settled over our home in the Appalachian mountains as was the norm around there and I was on my way to a meeting with everyone except Conan as he had gone missing in action a week before," Brian explained.

"If I may interlude for a moment, I have something for Allie that came from her brother," I said. "Wait, are you sure you obtained this from my brother? Where was he at when you saw him?" she asked, desperate to know her brother's whereabouts. "When I saw him, he was slowly dying of shock, malnutrition, and blood loss from infected wounds in the dungeons of Mount Orthys, the legendary home of the Titans," I told her after warning her.

"Let me see what he had for me please," she said. I pulled out a folded and somewhat crumpled piece of paper that Conan had given me before he died and told her to read aloud whatever it said. With tears making her eyes glassy and sadness choking her voice with each word, she read the letter aloud to us. "_Dear Allie, If you are reading this then I am dead and I have fulfilled my one hope before passing onto the next life: to let you know of what happened to me and to deliver the Sword of Saturn to Brian_," she started.

"Continue Allie, tell us if there is anything else your brother said," I told her. "_Though I love you, I regret to inform you that I am definitely not going to return in time for your dance but rest assured I made the ultimate devotion to Saturn's Land. I have sacrificed my life and the lives of more than half my team to prevent the complete and total annihilation of Saturn's Land. Remember the old prophecy: _'As long as a child of Saturn bears the Sword of Saturn, Saturn's Land shall never be destroyed'.

"_As for Brian, I thank him for being the best friend that both you and I have ever had and I thank him for willingly accepting the Sword of Saturn as my parting gift_," she finished. "Who would ever have thought that a boy like Conan could endure so much pain at anyone's hand just to provide me with the Sword of Saturn and you a letter before passing away. My guess is he held on to life to do those two things and when Thalia found him, he knew that they both would be passed on and there would be no need for him to live anymore; he is now a hero for as long as there is anyone who will tell his story. But let me continue my story and I will explain what he was protecting us against," Brian said.

I nodded and he continued with his story. "We were in a normal session to discuss normal matters when all of a sudden, the sky was so dark that one could easily mistaken it for nighttime. Then we saw a bright light fly just over the statue of Saturn that holds the soul of our father in it and explode just a few miles away from the wall. The resulting impact destroyed the wall as well as a fourth of our entire town, including our primary Police Department, our means of communication, as well as our only college in town," he continued.

"What happened after that?" I asked since he paused for a bit. Then he resumed his story and went to its conclusion. "The aftershocks of the explosion came in the form of a shower of comets that rose from the ground and destroyed almost everything in their path as well as a wave of fire to burn what the comets had missed. I knew we were under attack since I had seen that kind of explosion before in the early days of my term as Archbishop and rallied what remained of our army during the explosion and its aftershocks.

"We waited after all that remained from the impact were the burning houses and building that had been left in the wake of the impact as well as the spots that used to be where the first explosion happened, hoping it really wasn't an attack (least I was). It was when the enemy forces came swarming in that my worst fears had come to life: the Titans had come for us and were set on destroying us down to the last child. Leading them was a Titan with a spear that I later recognized as Prometheus' brother Epimetheus and I rallied the remnants of my fellow officers (numbering six including Allie and my wife) to destroy him.

"He tore all seven of us (five had been killed in the explosion) apart until only Allie and I survived with one more officer staying behind to aid the women and children in evacuating Saturn's Land. As far as I know, not even half a thousand people escaped the destruction of Saturn's Land and most of them barely had any experience in combat. Allie and I were the leaders of a group of twenty-eight that was wiped out on the same day that I had gotten my bite from the Asp that brought about the amputation of my left arm. When my group were being hacked limb from limb by Epimetheus' soldiers and I had been bitten by the asp, I knew there was only one hope: to find your uncle Gabriel Johnson, the legendary son of our father's Greek ego Kronos.

"I set out from there and arrived here with Allie even when the venom threatened to bring about a painful death for me," he said, finishing his story with that. "But what reason would the Titans have for destroying Saturn's Land and to what end would it serve?" Allie asked. "When Kronos transformed into the Roman ego of Saturn for the first time, Saturn was originally just another ego. But then, he manifested into his own deity and betrayed his Greek counterpart in a battle for freedom.

"The Titans knew they couldn't find Saturn so they destroyed our home because it was the only means of taking revenge against Saturn unless they could revive him, which they also couldn't do," Brian explained. I asked him to elaborate on what he meant by reviving Saturn and he did. He took a massive jewel out of his bag and said that this was one of the eyes of the statue of Saturn. "Another like it has residence in the left eye socket of the statue and if this one was to be restored and a laser from them reflected back at them, Saturn can be resurrected," Brian said.

"So what do you need Gabriel for?" I asked. "A child of both Kronos and Saturn are marked in such a way that only they can safely reflect the lasers and revive Saturn. Only such children can survive the process without being vaporized in the process of reviving the god," Brian answered. "And there has not been a need to unleash the power of Saturn upon any enemy until now?" I asked.

Brian shook his head and just then, Percy came in to check on him and see how he was doing. "He's recovering now that we've amputated his arm, he must have resorted all of his magical energy to keeping the venom at bay long enough to reach us," I said. "That's not what I'm here for, I was just coming because I had to ask him if he heard of a weapon called the Sword of Saturn," Percy replied. "What a coincidence, we were just talking about it ourselves," I lied.

"Uncle Gabe addressed it specifically to Brian so I came to hand it to him. Here it is bud, hope you know how to use it because he didn't tell me how it's done," Percy said. "Every true-blooded child of Saturn is required to learn how to use it no matter what their position in our town was meant to be," Brian replied. "Thank you Percy, tell Uncle Gabe that he appreciated that," I told Percy just as something I thought of off the top of my head.

"I'll be back to talk to you later Brian, I mean if that's all right with you. As for you Thalia, Uncle Gabe wants you as soon as you're finished at the Zeus cabin for privacy reasons," Percy said. He left to wait in the lobby until I was finished with my visit and I thanked him for dropping by to drop off the sword. "Allie, can you help me by holding the scabbard while I pull the sword out?" Brian asked.

Allie nodded and held the scabbard of the sword while Brian used his remaining hand to pull the sword from its scabbard. When he removed it from its scabbard, he a good, solid look at the blade as though he were going to the grave with it. Seeing that he was a child of Saturn and one of the last of his kin that might still have a chance of turning into reality. "For eight years, I have been told that this sword was my destiny and that one day, I would use it to restore the honor of Saturn's Land and my father Saturn," he said.

"Become who you were born to be, become the warrior who will save Saturn's Land just as your ancestor Beowulf the Great who contained your father to the statue and founded Saturn's Land had done. Since that day on May of 1810, the people of Saturn's Land have feared something like this would happen and feared the power of your ancestral sword would have to be called in. And now, here you are, holding the same sword that that great hero had used nearly two hundred years ago when your people need you more than ever," Allie said. "You know Allie, I was rather hoping that your brother was alive and you two had come from that famous bloodline rather than me because I do not have the same bold character that he had; the same warrior character necessary to inspire the people.

"He was not always the sharpest tool in the shed but he knew how to inspire the people when he needed to. And believe me, he's done that more than I have practically to the point of envy on my part," Brian said. "As much as I admire the praise you give my brother, he is dead and you are leader so lead us," Allie said, not even whacking around the bush. "Hmm, perhaps going back to Saturn's Land, destroying our enemy, and reclaiming the land for ourselves could be considered a way of repaying him for saving my life," Brian said.

At this point, I was lost and I asked Brian what he meant by that. "Before I found my way to Saturn's Land, Conan had been assigned by the preceding Archbishop (my maternal grandfather as I later realized after arriving to Saturn's Land) to find me when I had been captured by the Hunters of Diana. They wanted to use stray sons and daughters of Saturn as game for their centuries-long hunts since they had no other game and the Roman gods approved. I was amongst the hunted and Conan had been sent as an undercover warrior that sought to rescue me and any other Saturn children he could.

"Some of my friends back then had been hunted for almost a decade and Conan was sent on a big liberation mission. While I inspired hope into those who would join, Conan truly led us to victory when he staged a surprise attack on the Hunters' cabins in the mountains. The weaker children of Saturn were wise to escape to Saturn's Land while Conan and I took the stronger ones and tore our hunters apart. Ever since that day, I have owed him a very large debt and now that debt shall be paid to Allie," Brian explained.

"I hold your favor to my brother fulfilled, you did enough for him. Now it is your turn to aid those who Conan fought so hard to protect," she replied. Brian nodded and asked if Stephanie could put the sword back in its scabbard then asked me if a suit of armor had been prepared for him. "My uncle would know that better than I so as soon as you feel fit to travel, ask him," I said.

"Didn't Percy Jackson want to speak to us when you were done?" Brian asked. "He's not being rude, he just wishes to meet the famous Percy himself. Since he heard about it, he has wanted to know if it was true that Percy Jackson defeated Kronos and led the demigods of Camp Half-Blood to victory against the Titans that now seek revenge," Allie added. "He wants to meet you too but I can tell you right now that it is all true because I fought with him in the Battle of Manhattan," I said.

"He must be a powerful leader then, may we meet him and know him a little better?" Brian insisted. I nodded and thanked him for his time with me before heading for the lobby to find Percy. Before leaving the room, I heard the nurse say to Brian that he was free to get out of his bed if he wished. "Allie, be ready to help me in case I fall since I haven't used my legs in a long while," Brian said.

I never found out if he needed her help or not since I walked out of the room after that and found Percy waiting in the lobby. Instead, I told Percy that Brian wanted to see him now but he might possibly coming his way now that he was medically judged as fit for travel. "My recommendation is giving him a tour of the camp and learning as much as you can from him about Saturn's Land," I said. "I already received similar orders from uncle Gabe, I'll find out what he wishes us to know about his town as well as this grim situation that's befallen it," he said to which, I replied by wishing him luck on that.

He thanked me then I walked out of the infirmary and back onto the camp. From there, I went on to see what Gabriel had assigned for me for the next week or so. Or at least until my Hunters recovered completely from their encounter with him.


	27. Percy: Learning More About Saturn's Land

**Percy: Learning more about Saturn's Land and our guests**

Meeting Brian and seeing the stump that used to be his left arm was somewhat of an intriguing experience for me. "I am Brian Thompson, this is my friend and colleague Allie Creed, sister to the late Conan Creed who was an honorable friend and brilliant brother-in-arms," Brian said, introducing himself. "My name is Perseus Jackson, friend and nephew of Gabriel Johnson through Poseidon," I said, knowing how to do this sort of introduction with Gabriel's help in the past. "May we get a tour of your facilities before we speak with Gabriel about returning to Saturn's Land and reclaiming it for ourselves?" Brian asked.

"That's precisely what I am here to give you and I would also like a little insight as to what life in Saturn's Land was like before the Titans attacked. Do you feel comfortable telling me about that?" I asked. He nodded and though Allie said she wouldn't, he said that it was necessary. I agreed because I was truly confused about this whole Saturn's Land deal, Roman gods existing, and stuff like that.

As I introduced him to all the cabins we had besides the Asclepius/Infirmary cabin in the Big House, he told me about how people in Saturn lived their lives. "Considering that we were not nearly as large as say LA or New York and were too big for a small town's life, we lived like small townspeople anyway. We only had enough entertainment systems for the average person to get by (in other words, none of the latest in I-pod technology, not the latest in computer gaming, things like that)," he explained. "Don't you guys get bored not having that much entertainment around?" I asked.

"Actually, we don't as we can usually entertain ourselves with our jobs. I was the supreme Archbishop (first in command) of Saturn's Land. Alongside me were three more Archbishops, Allie, her brother Conan, and our friend Caitlin with four Bishops below us and four Archdeacons below them in turn. Officials lower than that were called Fathers except in the Police and Military departments, which still had normal US rankings," he began. "Every year, we would have two festivals: one to create mass-worship for Saturn as we used to believe he protected us from evil up in the Appalachian mountains," Allie said.

"The other was to celebrate my ancestor, Beowulf the Great, and his heroic deed of sealing Saturn away in the statue outside the walls of Saturn's Land before creating the town. We even go so far as to fit his motto into a speech that honors what he did at his festival every year," Brian added. "And what was his motto, which I presume has become the creed of Saturn's Land?" I asked. "'The most righteous thing you can do is seldom ever the easiest for you or anyone else'," Brian answered.

I continued to tour the camp and introduced them to the many cabins we had here whether built or already part of the camp. When we came to mine, I was surprised to find it cleaner than it usually was and I knew that Tyson had been through at some time. My guess was that he had been occupying the cabin while I was away on a mission of espionage to find Prometheus' present hideout, which no one knew of since I had aided in the destruction of Mount Orthys almost two weeks ago. Either way though, Brian needed a rest and Allie parked him on the spare bunk that was across from mine and made sure he had some food in him before we concluded the tour.

"The doctor said I should try and have at least a snack every four hours for a day or so. Then I won't have to worry about any side effects from the venom or the amputation for a long time if I ever feel it again," he explained. "That's good to hear, we thought you were going to die when you first came in," I said and that was an honest statement. He had come in with the venom of an Asp trapped in his left arm and we had been forced to not only amputate his arm but also squeeze out all the leftover coagulated blood at the risk of the healthy blood being bled out.

"Just one question about that though: how were you able to contain a venom that usually acts quickly to your arm until you arrived, looking like hell?" I asked. "Well, we Saturn children have a means of detecting venom before it acts that is born into us. It's active 24/7 so when I was bitten, the instinctive alarm went off and I used my magic to contain the venom until I arrived," Brian answered. That made sense to me and I decided to then ask him what some of the customs of Saturn's Land had been before it was destroyed.

"One particular custom that we practiced was that we would have districts in our town find out who was their best warrior. After that, we would have the best warriors in the districts compete for the prize of having a high-ranking position. Conan and I competed in one of these contests four years ago and I only one because endurance was not his specialty. He took second place and was rewarded with being my right-hand man when I took my grandfather's place as the Head Archbishop of Saturn's Land," he said.

"Another one was one practiced by soldiers before war where they would bathe themselves, sleep with their wives or girlfriends, then practice their skills in combat against each other before being ordered to form up. Women were faithful to their men no matter what although there was no law against divorce or abortion in our town so this custom worked out very well," Allie added. "I managed to say one last goodbye to my wife before she disappeared in the attack. Truthfully, I hope she's all right because I'd die if I heard she wasn't or worse, enter a frenzy where I destroyed everything in my path to find her," Brian agreed.

"I know what you mean, my girlfriend was captured three years ago by Atlas and I would not rest until I found her again. No one else wanted me to go find her but I went anyway and I guess I am pretty proud of that," I said. "I had to rescue my wife too and that's actually how I met her, when I had to rescue her and dozens of other Saturn kids from the Hunters of Diana (they used to have _many _of us captured before we started fighting back)," Brian replied with a smile. "Think positive about her situation, your house was way too far away to be affected by the blast in any way save the wind; maybe she evacuated right after it happened," Allie said.

He nodded and said he was ready to resume the tour whenever I was. I told him there was not much to see in the cabins after the Hades and Zeus cabins, which was true. After getting out of the Poseidon Cabin, I decided to show the Hades cabin first because I felt it would be necessary for Brian to see who Nico was in case he didn't get another chance. "He is Hades' only child, he's unconscious at the moment since he sacrificed his consciousness to bring up an army that helped us bring down Mount Orthys two weeks back," I explained.

"Quite an honorable sacrifice on the part of the Prince of the Underworld. If he had been a child of Saturn, I would have probably said that he would be a good pupil for Conan. How are his sword skills?" Brian asked. "He's the second best after me but third best after Thalia and fourth best after Gabriel," I answered.

"Gabriel is the best in this camp? How did you guys decide that?" Brian asked. "Well, Thalia happens to be the lieutenant of Diana's Greek equivalent Artemis and thus, the leader of Artemis' equivalent of Diana's Hunters. At the time we met Gabriel, his aura told us that we had to see if he was any threat to us and Thalia volunteered to take her fellow hunters to investigate," I explained.

"What happened?" Allie asked. "Well let's just say that Thalia is the only one of the Hunters who wasn't resting in the infirmary for more than a week after the encounter. Not only that but let's also add they suffered long-term damage to their pride," I answered with a smile. "You mean to tell us that Gabriel was attacked by a bunch of wimpy hunters?" Brian asked.

I laughed since I had never heard them called wimps before but it was fine by me. After all, even though Thalia was the lieutenant and Artemis' second in command, I didn't really have much love for the Hunters considering how they were towards boys. "Your surprise is well understood and fine but trust me, you don't want them hearing that unless you'd like Gabriel to come save your hide," I said and I knew that was true. The Hunters wanted their pride back but they would never dare fight Gabriel after that fateful encounter with him before he came to camp.

Least, not that I would know of but I would have to ask Thalia if they've made any moves to restore their pride yet. After showing them Hades and Nico resting inside it, I showed them the empty Zeus cabin as well as the Hera one but I don't think they needed to see the inside like they did Zeus. Before showing them the rest of the camp, I noticed a rather unique looking sword at Brian's belt and I asked him about it. "It's the Sword of Saturn, the very weapon that my ancestor Beowulf the Great used against Saturn two centuries ago," he said.

"What drove him to do that? Surely Saturn could not have been a threat to his own children, am I correct?" I asked. "Before Saturn's Land was founded, the Roman goddess Juno betrayed him by framing him for a crime she committed and having him banished from Olympus. Her treason drove him to insanity and his children had to go on a mass exodus to find a place where they would be safe," Brian explained.

"What happened from there?" I inquired. "Saturn's insanity increased until at last, he was so hungry for revenge and a return to the throne that he began gathering his children and making them into an army for him to use. He even incorporated some others into his quest for power that weren't even related to him and that's how Conan and Allie fit in the picture. But one day, a lowly boy nicknamed Alexander stood up to Saturn and became Beowulf the Great by defeating Saturn in combat with the aid of two brothers and three sisters," he explained.

"They sealed him in the statue we have back in the ruins of Saturn's Land and took this jewel from the statue so that he would remain sealed. Since the statue is indestructible until the jewel is put back into place, we don't have to worry about the Titans destroying Saturn while he is helpless," Allie added. "That sounds good, what is this jewel you use called anyway?" I asked her. "We call it and its twin, the Eyes of Pandora because Beowulf the Great used them to call upon the powers of Pandora to defeat Saturn," Allie answered.

"Pandora? I thought she was dead," I said. "We thought that too until Beowulf found her deep in the Gobi Desert and called upon her powers to temporarily hold his own against Saturn. According to the legend, his companions helped him get there but he fought Saturn by himself after successfully navigating the perils of Pandora and her desert domain," Brian said.

"Is she still alive?" I asked. "She was cursed with agelessness by the gods and confined to the Gobi after playing her part in the destruction of Prometheus' creations: early man. Only those who are brave enough and strong enough can journey to her Temple and Beowulf was the only one to ever return from that Desert alive with her as the objective," Allie explained. "Is it possible to go back and retrieve her from the desert without the curse reacting to it?" I asked, feeling pity for Pandora.

"It's never been accomplished but to be able to get her out of the desert would be one of the greatest accomplishments on Earth. Surprisingly, the only thing you need to do to convince her is beat her at a game of Pente," Allie answered. "Never heard of Pente, is it some sort of really special game or something?" I asked. "It's a four thousand year old game that kind of acts like _Connect Four _except you have to get five stones in a row know as a Pente to win; perhaps Brian will teach you or Gabriel as they are both very good at it," Allie answered.

"Pente is Greek for 'five' so that's why nobody translated the name of this famous and very old board game," Brian added. I was about to add something to the conversation when Connor Stoll of the Hermes cabin told me that Gabriel wanted to see me in the Zeus cabin. Nodding, I had him continue the tour for me and marched back to the Zeus cabin, knowing that whatever Gabriel had in mind for me would be something relatively interesting and concerning the preparations for a possible assault on this camp from Prometheus. Ever since our success with the attack on Mount Orthys, we have had to remain vigilant for the time when Prometheus would return from a new place and strike against us to even it out with us.

Truly, I hoped it never happened but Gabriel was hell-bent on making sure we were ready in case it did happen. My job lately had been to act as a General whenever he's gone, which is surprisingly frequent considering that he is basically the one leading this campaign. The Hunters of Artemis had already been assigned to find at least an associate of Prometheus' in order to then find out where he was hiding out at. That in turn led me to the question of why Gabriel went chasing after him if that was already the case.

Anyway, I went into the Zeus Cabin, paid my respects to Lord Zeus, and asked Gabriel what he needed of me. "Percy, in a day or so, I may need you take over for me again as I have a feeling Brian and Allie may want me to go back with them to the ruins of Saturn's Land," Gabriel explained, wasting no time as always. "Go back? But they barely escaped with their lives eight days ago!" I said.

"That's true but when Brian's mind is set on something, there is no stopping him. Kind of reminds me of myself back when I was newly christened as a servant of Olympus," Gabriel replied. "You mean to tell me you can't stop him for any reason at all?" I asked. Gabriel shook his head and added that Allie agrees with him about going back to Saturn's Land.

"What is it about that girl that makes my skin crawl whenever I look at her. Not that she's ugly or anything but there's something about her that I don't think is very good," I said. "Perhaps I will find out for you when and if I go with him back to Saturn's Land and possibly back to Hell," he said; I nodded in agreement and seconded that move.


	28. Annabeth: Chiron's Secret Mission

**Annabeth: Chiron's secret mission for me and farewell party**

Since no more than four people were allowed on a quest, not even this one, I volunteered as quickly as I could if Gabriel was going to make an expedition with Brian and Allie back to Saturn's Land. Now Chiron wanted to see me in the Big House and said that the reason was because of my request to aid Gabriel in this dangerous assignment. Argus was there to greet me when I arrived and I told him that Chiron had requested my presence at the Big House before he could whack me to a pulp with his club. As soon as I entered, I knew Chiron would have business for me that concerned Gabriel and the company he was traveling with.

The trouble is, I didn't know what kind of business he had for me. "Sit down Annabeth and help yourself to some strawberries if you wish. I have a special assignment for you if you choose to go with Gabriel. Will you accept the quest to Saturn's Land and possibly to the Titans?" Chiron asked.

I nodded when he asked this and he hesitated before continuing with his explanation. "You may not believe this but I am actually wishing that you spy on Gabriel for me. Lately, people have been turning to him more than they have to me for guidance and I fear that his impulsive nature may undo us all if we're not careful," Chiron said. I was outraged so much that it probably showed on my face when he made that request to me.

"Look Annabeth, I understand your outrage but I fear greatly for Gabriel. However powerful a warrior he may be, leadership has never been one of his strong points," Chiron explained. That blew my top and I knew I couldn't trust Chiron as long as Gabriel was around. "Listen Chiron ever since Gabriel showed up, you've done almost nothing to enhance the greatness of the camp!" I shouted.

"I can explain that-" he said before I cut him off. "Then explain it mother fucker, explain why it is that while Gabriel is making all the preparations to save our skins from Prometheus' wrath you have been sitting it pretty here in the Big House!" I yelled. I immediately regretted it when he rose up on all of his four legs and summoned up his bow as well as all his godly power in an instant. "You _will _spy on Gabriel for me and you _will _tell me if he is truly leading us or bringing about our ruin by having us paranoid over an enemy that may no longer be a threat!" Chiron boomed.

"Never, I will never do it Chiron. You may have been like a father to me but I will never do it even for you," I warned him. "Why do you believe in Gabriel so much?" Chiron asked. "Because unlike you, he has an actual desire to destroy Prometheus and an actual desire to save us all at any costs," I answered.

"Do you really believe that we have to destroy Prometheus? He is the very reason the Oracle can see the future. Were it not for him, the Oracle would not even have her power to see it the way she does," Chiron said. "But now that the power exists we don't need him to see the future anymore, do we?" I asked.

Chiron chewed on that for a little while then asked if I truly felt that Gabriel was a real leader. "At least he knows how to fight Prometheus and the Titans. On top of that at least he has shown no reservation on doing what must be done," I said. That seemed to really bring down Chiron and I began to wonder to myself if I had perhaps gone too far but then, yet again, spying on Gabriel was kind of an outrageous request coming from Chiron of all people.

Without a doubt, I would have expected Drew Beauregard to make such a request for the purpose of making sure he remained hers for the taking. I could even anticipate Clarisse of the Ares cabin asking that just because she wanted to try and beat him up herself yet again. Perhaps the most surprising after Chiron would be for one of Thalia's Hunters asking me to make sure he died on the mission due to the dent he put in their pride when they encountered him for the first time. But Chiron's request was just enough to make me wonder if Gabriel had personal reasons for avoiding the godhood his status as a son of Kronos sometimes attempted to seduce him into striving for.

"More than once, I have considered how much better I could perform as a god. But then it takes the physical labor out of committing the deed in question and I believe that the best way to earn heroism is to actually show signs of working towards it. In a lot of things, physical labor would be important in something like this," Gabriel once told me during one of our breaks. After hearing that I asked him a question that may sound a little personal: "Have you ever actually desired to become a god?"

For a little while, he hesitated then he told me something I don't think anyone should be without knowledge of. "Yes I have actually desired to become a god but then I remind myself that right at the present moment, there is more to life then seeking immortality. There was, and still is, far more to live for in the mortal world than there is in the world of eternity," he told me. "Then what would say was the problem with those who sought immortality in some manner like the Ancient Greeks and the Ancient Romans?" I asked.

"To me, it's a phobia that infects people even to this day and is a fear that gives Phobos the most power and that is a fear of eternity. Normally, this wouldn't be bad if the person in question didn't also fear it so much that they concentrated on setting the gateway to the eternity they seek that they don't actually live life on Earth before departing. You can ask the Egyptians all about that if you wish and if you can find someone who lived in Ancient Egypt," Gabriel answered. "So in a sense, they are so worried about death that when it eventually does come they have not exactly done anything to actually enter eternity?" I asked.

"Depends how you look at it but that's not an incorrect way of looking at it," Gabriel answered. On an off-note, he added that he wanted to pack a bag with enough supplies to last me a few days or so. "At most, we may or may not be gone two weeks but as much as you can (even if it's enough for two months) anyway," he said. "I suppose Brian and Allie are packing for the trip back to the death hole they escaped from?" I rhetorically asked.

"They're packing what they have in case they don't come back if that's what you mean. I suggest that you pack as much as you can and I will do the same myself, if you have anything else to say before we go our separate ways then feel free to tell me," he answered. "Well… there is one thing I probably should mention," I said. I knew it was about Chiron's favor and I knew I had to tell him even if he didn't give much reaction to it.

"Before I came to talk to you (this is actually the original subject that I wanted to speak to you about), Chiron asked me to spy on you for him while I was away with you and the Saturn children. Can you tell me whether or not that surprises you in any way?" I said to him. He shook his head no and said that he was not surprised by the fact that Chiron had asked me to spy on him. "Ever since my mother beat him at a tennis match (under his terms), he has been like all of the Olympians except Eos, Selene, Helios, and Hestia in the sense that he wanted to get even," he told me.

"Your mother beat him in a tennis match?" I asked, surprised. "According to Eos, my mother was an Olympic athlete that played tennis even in the early months of her pregnancy with me. Chiron used to _love _tennis in those days as well but was so boastful of his skills due to being a centaur that he challenged my mother to an eight-game match," he began. At my encouragement, he continued since he seldom ever released details of his mother.

"Though she was mortal, she commanded some interesting powers that fell into her possession from her ancestral relation to a powerful Greek magician that lived in Egypt (whose specialty weapon is telekinesis). Because of her magic abilities, she was able to outmatch Chiron in both speed and endurance but that's not how she won. She won by forcing him to make a shot up toward the sky as a last resort and an attempt to catch her off guard. Instead, she used her telekinetic abilities to jump after it and hit it between all four of his legs before scoring the point that left him in a near-catatonic state of surprise.

He lost and he kept practicing in hopes for the day when he would get even with her. But when she died shortly after my birth, he gave up for a long time and now here I am with only a few months to go before I am an adult," Gabriel concluded. All I had to say was that I truly felt sorry for Gabriel more than ever, especially when one considers that something his mother did gave him a complicated relationship with his half-brother now. "If there's one person besides most of the gods who I can say without doubt has certainly not learned to quit taking revenge is Chiron; no matter what he tells you, he always bore ill feelings about my mother and the fact that Chiron's father bore a demigod child with her made it worse," Gabe said, concluding the conversation completely.

I packed my stuff as soon as I got back to my cabin and decided not to tell Malcolm what Gabriel had told me today. From the way Gabriel looked at me when he explained Chiron's grudge as well as his mother's involvement in forming it, he had had a hard time letting go of that information to someone who never knew. The gods always knew these things because Zeus had made it the duty of all the gods to monitor Kronos' activities as well as those of his allies if necessary. But telling it to the likes of me was probably difficult enough considering that details about his mother were indeed to be treasured since he never actually knew her and knew very little _of _her.

After that, I decided to go and pay Percy a visit if he was in his cabin. To my delight, he was at his cabin leaning over his desk and probably doing his best to use a map of Camp Half-Blood. His biggest assignment from Gabriel had been to find all of the rivers in camp and identify which ones were likeliest to give him enough power to be of help should Prometheus attempt to invade Camp Half-Blood from the sea.

I placed a hand on each of his arms and rubbed up and down them as I placed my chin on his shoulder. "Any luck with your little assignment, Seaweed Brain?" I asked. "A little but nothing much since he gave me the assignment day before yesterday, Wise Girl," he answered with a smile. "I'll be headed out for Saturn's Land soon, are you coming to see us off when they arrange the farewell party tomorrow?" I inquired.

Chiron and Gabriel agreed to a little going-away party for Gabriel, myself, and the two children of Saturn that could be conducted in a manner where they could wish us luck on our way out to the gates. "Are you kidding? I wouldn't miss that for anything else in the world," he replied. "I'm glad to hear that, see you tomorrow before I take off then?" I asked and he nodded.

"See you then Seaweed Brain, hope you got a nice surprise for me!" I said as I left. "Hey, why not ask Chiron or Gabriel if it's all right if you can share my bunk tonight? I mean, it is the last time I'm going to see you besides an Iris-message for a while," Percy asked. For a second, I thought about it then said I would ask both of them if it was all right if I could do that.

I explained the reason to Chiron but had no need to do so with Gabriel. He already understood why I wanted to sleep in Percy's cabin but Chiron clung to tradition. "You know it's forbidden for cabins to have members sleep in other cabins. We do it so we can tell all of you children apart from each other," Chiron fussed.

However, Gabriel proposed a simple solution to how I should decide where I slept. "Take a drachma and toss into the air. If it's heads (or tails depending on your lucky side) then you'll have both our consent to sleep with Percy. But if it's tails (again unless that's not your unlucky side) then neither of us will approve," he suggested.

I selected heads as my lucky side and flipped the coin with my hopes carried on it. Relief washed over me like a tsunami when I realized that it was heads and Chiron had to consent even if he didn't like the idea of it. Gabriel winked out me however and I knew immediately that he had had a hand in that turn of luck. I smiled and thanked him when I had a private moment to do so and he simply said, "How'd you guess I had a hand in it?"

"Let's put it this way, that wink did not go unnoticed," I teased. He laughed as we rode through the farewell party that proceeded after I had my night with Percy. As to the details of that, well, let's just say those are details best left untouched but one can guess (with a high chance of getting it right) what happened. Nonetheless, the farewell party was a very excellent one and no doubt we had great transportation out: actually it was just the four of us on horses with Brian having a little trouble since he only had one arm.

The sword was strapped on his left waist to a leather belt that held up his pants. We went out the gates of Camp Half-Blood with the graces of a Greek king or maybe even just a general. But after the gates closed, I had a feeling like there was still some uncertainty about whether or not going to Saturn's Land was the right thing. I sensed it in myself but I also sensed something really bizarre about Allie, like she was the cause of all this trouble or something like that.

It would be terrible to find out how close to the truth it came when we had arrived in the ruins of Saturn's Land. Gabriel decided to let me lead us through New York since neither he nor Brian had ever been through New York and Allie had only been here once before so it was up to me. "The streets intertwine upon each other but I'll do my best to get us out of the city without attracting to much attention. Horses are normally only assigned to police officers who find it too difficult to navigate by car but it's not like we're riding on zebras, right?" I said.

Everybody liked that and I made sure to do as I promised. "We can afford to have regular horses without having to cover them in the mist, which is more convenient for this than pegasai," Gabriel agreed. "And a lot less likely to be noticed by the Titans," Brian added. Allie said nothing, she just continued to stare off into space as we moved along.


	29. Gabriel: Decision To Help An Old Friend

**Gabriel: My decision to help an old friend**

Annabeth and Allie fell asleep but Brain and I were both restless even when we knew we needed sleep bad. Brian was up on guard-duty and I was not due for another hour or so but that didn't really matter. I was restless and I had made sure not to leave the Sky Sword in my tent just in case I would need it. "Hey Brian, still restless like you were when we first met?" I asked.

"Was I restless even then?" he answered. I nodded but he didn't seem surprised by that. "How do you feel about this new quest that I have bestowed upon you, old friend?" he asked. The fact that he called me 'old friend' was interesting but it was a true statement of our status as friends. Before he went to Saturn's Land (eventually becoming its mayor or its governor if you will) we served under the command of an Olympian battalion led by a resurrected Greek general.

It was really just a simulation run of what we would do if we were in an actual battle of Grecian warriors but Brian struck me as a brother in arms. Together, we took out the worst that the simulation had to offer and I remembered Brian being an incredible warrior with the basic sword and shield supplemented every now and then by a spear. My specialty weapons were either a single two-handed sword or a pair of one-handed swords and together, we made for the best team that our trainer had ever seen. Interestingly enough, my trainer had been the soul of the late Perseus himself and more than once we were pitted against him.

But that was a long time ago, which was precisely why I had the feeling that Brian had not changed much even with his arm amputated. I managed to get back on track with the conversation and answered him by saying he didn't bestow it upon me. "You're an old friend and I chose to help you out as you used to help me long ago," I said. "I feel really bad about those old days and now I remember why," he said randomly.

I asked him why but I was not prepared for what he had to say next. "You said I helped you but I think in truth, I didn't. Our trainer Perseus saw weakness in me and saw that I was only good in defense. He only used me as a front to see how well you would do if you didn't have to worry about being shot at," he told me.

"That's not true and you know it. Perseus wanted us both to learn as much as we could in what we specialized in but he also wanted to teach us the arts we were failing in. He wanted to teach us this much at least: that we can still be good at what we are weakest at to the point of being able to put up a damn good fight. By no means were you a weak fighter even if you were not as good as I was, good enough to beat anyone else either one of us fought," I told him.

"I am just being a big hassle on you, just come out and say it," he replied with some tears beginning to form in his eyes. "You were never a hassle Brian and you still aren't. Don't you _ever _think that for even a millisecond of your existence," I snarled. He said nothing for a little while then he looked up at me to speak to me again. "When you put it that way, you make me feel less guilty of that accident, remember?" Brian asked.

I remembered that accident very well as if it had just happened yesterday. One day, during our training, Perseus sensed that each of us were individually becoming too powerful for the simulations so he made it interesting. He decided that when we were nearing the end of our last simulation, _he _would be the peril awaiting us in the throne room of the simulated Palace. We were the only ones in our team of forty-two who had made it unscathed and ready to continue fighting but we were ill-prepared for him being our target.

"What's the matter you two? Surprised to see that your trainer is the objective of your assassination?" he asked us. Brian had not only been surprised, he had been nearly traumatized in his head. As for me, I was pissed that he hadn't told us this would happen before the day of that simulation.

"Your time has come to face me or be destroyed as you have grown too powerful for the simulations. Both of you have grown too powerful for the simulations and even my father Zeus knows it," Perseus had said. We fought him for a long time after that but that was when the accident happened. While I held Perseus in a defense of position and Brian was finding trouble hacking through, he accidentally slashed at his thigh and successfully cut an artery in it.

After that little accident, I sliced Perseus' jugular and that caused a fountain of ichor to spill away from him. He fell to the ground instantly but the worst part was that he never came back up after that. At first, we thought this was part of the simulation and he would be all right soon but Zeus closed the assembly and said that Perseus had actually been destroyed when I sliced his jugular. Ever since that day, I have wondered why Perseus put himself in one of his own simulations and it seemed to me as though Brian had taken it worse than I did, which I deeply sympathized for.

"You don't have to take any guilt for the accident. Remember, I was the one who struck the killing blow that ended the easy bit of our training," I said to him. "But I was the one who provided the opening for you when I slashed his thigh," Brian replied. "That's besides the point Brian and I assure you that we did what we had to do back then; the past is the past and this is now," I said to Brian.

"You still willing to stand by the side of an old friend?" he asked. "Do you really have to ask that question, Brian? I mean it is kind of stupid that you have to ask that question," I answered. "Very funny Gabe, now get some sleep before it's your time to take guard duty," Brian said.

"I've lost all will to sleep, now I can only wait in a state of restlessness before my time comes. Annabeth and Allie have already served theirs but before I serve mine, I have to ask you something," I explained. He nodded and told me that I could ask him whatever I wanted to ask him. "Allie seems to be rather mysterious, when you picked her up did you suspect anything about her?" I asked.

"Initially, I thought her silence was just because of the trauma she experienced from seeing Saturn's Land destroyed. But when she started talking to me again and looking like she was always depressed, I did indeed began to develop a suspicion about her. Why, does she have you a little on edge as well?" he answered. I nodded in reply to his question and he whispered to me that actually didn't really trust her all that much either.

"Comforting as it is, it won't be of use at least until we arrive to the ruins of Saturn's Land. Maybe we can find some clues about her behavior as well as to why your home was destroyed when we do arrive," I said. "Don't hope for too much Gabe, when I left they were burning the place down to ashes save for the indestructible statue of Saturn," Brian told me. "Perhaps it's time that we unlocked the god within that statue, it may be the only way to save your people from destruction," Gabe said.

"Beowulf the Great and everyone after him (myself included) feared such a reply as that to this situation. There was a very good reason for Beowulf containing my father to that statue except to have children amongst mortal women. If we unleash Saturn in his full power, he could destroy us if not you and Annabeth with us," Brian said, begging me not to even think of that possibility. "I like it no more than you do but it may be the only way to save your people from permanent annihilation," I replied to him.

He paused for a moment and told me something I made sure to remember later on. "When this is over, and if I'm still alive, I'm gonna gather what remains of my people and let the gods guide me to a safe place for them to be. And it's gonna be a place where even you wouldn't expect me to choose," he told me. "You will do that for them, I know that to be true of you," I told him in agreement.

"Thanks Gabriel, I'm willing to say at this time that I have had no truer friend then you in my life. For one thing, you have neither died on me nor practically gotten me killed although I can definitely say that I got you close to death even without intending it more than once," he said. "Don't remind me," I teased with a small laugh from both of us.

"You know something Gabriel? One of your finest talents had always been to put a smile on people's faces. Especially the ladies when you're putting the moves on them, know what I mean?" he teased back. "Hey, I get more action than you do so watch it," I said, smiling.

"Whatever, don't bullshit me dude," he said. We both started roaring with laughter at that point and it was amazing we didn't get so much as a reaction from the girls. But I was most definitely sure that we had practically woke them up at that point and they had to cover their ears with their pillows to keep our commotion out. I had to hand it to Brian, he had a way with joking around and being very funny even with the trauma of missing his left arm.

"Hey Brian, I came on this journey because you're an old friend and you were the leader of Saturn's Land before its untimely destruction at the hands of the Titans. My decision to help out an old friend was made by my conscience and my heart. Don't forget that for one second of your continued existence Brian," I told him when we got serious again. He nodded and told me that my time was almost here to take his place as a sentry for us.

"How about I just take it now and add some extra time to how long I can sleep afterwards?" I asked. "You sure about that? I mean, who would want to take guard duty earlier than they're supposed to besides you?" he asked back. I nodded and he shrugged, saying that he felt like he needed the sleep anyway and went to his tent to slip on some pajamas.

I was little beyond the range of the campfire we had built when I took guard duty from Brian. All in all, it was a peaceful shift and I saw nothing that would catch me off-guard nor anything that would bring peril to the group. However, I did receive a friendly visit from Nyx the goddess of the night herself. "Hey Nyx what's up and oh, how's Erebus been?" I asked, trying to be friendly.

"Erebus is fine last I checked but I came on his behalf to warn you of something. If I may speak, I am to deliver this warning from Erebus to Gabriel Johnson," she said. I told her that I was Gabriel and she delivered her warning to me quickly. "Erebus told me to tell you to turn back from this path now because if you don't, it may see your demise when you arrive at the remains of Saturn's Land," she said.

I understood this warning at once without having to ask her why he would say that. Now I had a new message for her to deliver back to her former husband if she could do it. "Nyx, I have a message for Erebus if you wish to take it to him," I told her. "I will take it to him as my request from him was to give his message to you and then take any message from you back to him," she said.

"Then tell him this: Brian of Saturn's Land is an old friend of mine. My decision to help him has been made and I will not turn back. If you are worried about him encroaching on some domain of yours when he tries to find a place for his people then that is not my problem," I said. I added that I hoped I received no further interference from Erebus and that was my message.

"You may be his friend Gabriel but Erebus will not control his temper because of his friendship to you," Nyx said, begging me to change my mind. However, I would not be swayed because I knew that Erebus liked to do this to mortal people including myself. "Tell him also that if he has any further problems with my decision he is to say so to my face rather than send you otherwise, he should stay out of my way," I said to her. She disappeared after that and I knew that I was going to have trouble with Erebus in the future but it didn't matter; darkness is not always kind anyway and neither or any of the gods above and below.

Besides, I had the Sky Sword if Erebus wished to find and destroy me above ground. The powers of the sky would be at my command then and even if I fought him underground, I would still make for a formidable opponent. Erebus had his warning as he had tried to give me mine and now, how he took it is entirely up to him and not I. Nothing happened after that except that I had a vision of somebody fighting Erebus in his domain and then bringing light to that domain, putting an end to him temporarily.

The person in my vision had a regular right arm and some demonic left arm so that was why I wasn't quick to assume it was anybody particularly. When my shift was finished, I went back into my tent and rested like everybody else but I still had trouble understanding the nature of that vision. I knew somebody was fighting Erebus with a sword on the human hand and a shield over the demonic one and I wondered if it was some former minion of Erebus fighting him or something like that. In the morning, I told Brian of my vision and he looked at me like I had convicted him of some sort of crime.

"A demonic arm of your description was what was supposed to come to anybody who tried to contain the essence of Saturn in one place. It can be for giving me a new arm but I would have to make sure not to get it severed unless I wanted to see Saturn escape me," he explained. "Is this what Beowulf the Great feared when he fought your father two hundred years ago?" I asked. "That was why he issued the creation of the statue and even paid exiled children of Vulcan to do it," Brian answered with a nod.

"Well, I am still with you even if you wish to turn back. If you're afraid just let me know and I understand," I told him. "I am very much afraid of what might be waiting for us when we get back to Saturn's Land. What if Epimetheus is still there and he intends to somehow use us to unleash Saturn for his own purposes?" he asked.

"I doubt Epimetheus is that smart but I do believe he is smart enough to make a plan for us if he wanted to. But then, I could be wrong and I just think he's dumb from the experiences I have had with him," I said We were on our way after that dark conversation.


	30. Gabriel: Letting Brian Lead The Way

**Gabriel: Letting Brian lead the way to Saturn's Land and an old foe**

Shortly after the night that Brian and I had our talks, we got out of New York and Brian said he knew the way from there. "I have been in most of the East Coast except for New York, I know this area very well now that we're out of NY," he said. "Then I think it's time we let you up in front instead of Annabeth, leading the way. Sorry Annabeth but you have done a very good job as it is," I said.

"I'm perfectly fine with it, I just am not used to having to ride a horse to our destination," Annabeth said. "Couldn't we have taken a plane instead?" Allie complained in agreement. "That's what Prometheus would be hoping for, to be at Saturn's Land quickly so that any plans he has can be fulfilled by his brother quickly. If we take horses down there, it will make Epimetheus lessen his vigil for us," Gabriel replied.

"Epimetheus is not like his brother when it comes to patience. We can definitely use that against him when it comes to attack strategies," Brian added. Annabeth did not say anything after that but Allie had a couple more complaints before she too submitted to our line of thinking. But Annabeth's comment that this was a strategy worthy of Athena was what really interested me.

"What makes you think that when I have told you about how I've fought gods before?" I asked. "Well… I guess I didn't really mean anything; just came out with a complimentary intention. Sorry if it offended you Gabriel, slayer of Hyperion and archrival of Prometheus," she answered. I thought about carefully then I decided that it was time I revealed something I had been hiding about the Hyperion affair.

Truth was, though I didn't find out about it until recently, Hyperion was not dead. He would no longer be threat to either man or gods no but he was still alive unlike what I thought had happened. According to Eos, because of her connection to her father, told me he was alive and inhabiting the body of a cobra that happened to wander around places where demigods can be found. "Can he converse with people if he needed or wanted to?" I asked when I found this out.

"That's the extent of his present power, yes. If you needed information from him you could get it out of him but it would be best to avoid the venomous fangs of the serpent," she answered. "Hey, if I ever come across a cobra that happens to be capable of talking I will improvise on the venomous bite. I'm more worried for you now that I know he's still alive than you could be about me," I told her.

"At least I know I still have my handsome mortal man Gabriel looking after me," she said with a giggle and a smile. My worries temporarily vanished at seeing that smile on her face and truthfully, I was glad that was the case. But that's beside the point since I was talking about Hyperion, not about romantic experiences I had with his daughter. Anyway, bottom line is that he survived our last meeting and he could be of assuming that he had been near Saturn's Land when it was destroyed or had heard about any plans the Titans had had to destroy it.

When I explained to Annabeth about Hyperion's fate, Brian pulled out a sack and asked me if it was this snake. "Get me out of this ridiculous contraption!" a voice inside the sack shouted. Immediately, I recognized that that voice was the voice of Hyperion himself and asked that Brian pull him out. "Thank you, you have no idea how ridiculous it is to be trapped-" the snake said before turning to see me then stopping in the middle of his sentence.

"Guess I don't have to ask if you remember me," I said to it. "Oh I remember you as clearly as the brightest light I used to be capable of producing with my former power. How in the universe are you still alive; I would have thought Prometheus had destroyed you by now," the snake said. "And I would have thought you would have found a way to return to your former power by now," I replied to him.

"Last time I saw you, you were just a boy and now look at you. You look so much like your father when he was young that it's frightening," Hyperion said. "Last time I saw you I could see where Helios got his looks and where all three of your children got that bright light they have in their eyes and you certainly not small by stature," I snapped. Hyperion spat at me as best he could in his snake form and it came out more of a moist hiss than an actual spit.

"Hyperion, are you going to be a good boy and tell us if the Titans have any real reason for doing what they did to Saturn's Land?" Brian said. His grip on the cobra was intense so that way it could not turn around and bite him or anyone else. And it was either because of that tight grip or something else he might have planned, he told us. "Yes they do and it is a simple reason that even you mortals have for doing some of the things you do: revenge," Hyperion said.

"Revenge? For what reason might you feel revenge against the children of Saturn's Land?" Brian asked. "Simple, Saturn started out simply as the Roman ego for Gabriel's father Kronos. Then he betrayed him and Kronos vowed that the full might of the Titans would rain upon Saturn and any children he might have," Hyperion answered.

"So because Saturn was unavailable to suffer your wrath, you took your revenge out on his kids?" Annabeth asked. "Oh I am afraid it's a little more complicated than that but you are on the right track so far. Perhaps Epimetheus will reveal the full plan to you before he kills you in the ruins of Saturn's Land," Hyperion told her. "I wouldn't bother with forcing it out of him for right now Brian, maybe he'll tell us when a little more time goes by and things seem to go in his favor," I told Brian before he could start torturing Hyperion with harder squeezes.

"Oh you can be sure that I will, especially if it means the end of you, Gabriel Johnson!" Hyperion hissed. "My death will not come by your fangs nor will it come from Epimetheus. You might as well give up anything you may be coming up with now," I told him. I meant more to scare him than boost confidence in myself because Hyperion couldn't do anything to me as long as he never had a chance to stick his fangs in me nor had Epimetheus ever come close to killing me before.

"Put him back in the bag before he gets any ideas about how to demote our confidence. If there's anything I know about Hyperion, it's that he has a rather wicked tongue like most of his fellow Titans," Annabeth ordered. Brian did precisely that and handed the bag to Allie for safekeeping for the rest of the journey to Saturn's Land. "You have fought him before Gabriel?" Brian asked.

I nodded and told him that I would tell him the details tonight when we had a private moment like we did last night. Annabeth already knew the details so I didn't have to explain myself to her but it was interesting to see that Allie didn't ask to know how we met. It was as if somehow, she knew either symbiotically or she had been spying on me for my whole life after training under Perseus. Maybe it was paranoia or maybe the fact that I was curious to know why she held her tongue and always looked sad but I never quite understood her attitude.

But considering that she was very silent, she made up for her lack of speech through her incredible skill with a pair of katanas she carried with her. I had asked Annabeth to persuade her into a practice duel and I knew that though Allie might not be as powerful as her brother Conan or even as skilled as Brian, she was definitely a deadly adversary in her own right. After seeing her performance on the battlefield, I decided it was best to keep an eye on her as often as I could spare because now I didn't like the way she presented herself to us. It was almost as though we couldn't trust her, at least I couldn't, and that having her would somehow jeopardize the entire mission for the rest of us.

I told Brian about my suspicions when we had another moment to talk alone and he too seemed a little rattled by her presence. "She is a damn good fighter like her brother was but as you and I both know, that doesn't really stop somebody from being a traitor. If she is one, there's no stopping her from turning that skill against us when the time comes," Brian said in agreement. "Should I suggest to Annabeth that she watch until we arrive to Saturn's Land at the very least?" I asked.

"Do as you wish, I want no traitors in my group and you of all people know the reason why I'm serious about this," Brian answered. I nodded in agreement with what he said because it was true that Perseus' surprise attack and murder had taken a huge toll on him. But the more I saw him, the more I thought that maybe it had taken a toll on him for the better. Before, he had been very naïve and lacked the perception I had obtained from watching my loved ones die but now it seemed he had really matured.

Watching him now, I could see the makings of a leader in him where before they had been very faint if even existent. Now we were in the final stages of our journey and the smell of smoke began to become present to our noses. This wouldn't be much if weren't for the fact that we were actually not in a city but in the middle of forest near the Appalachian mountains. The smell of smoke told us immediately that we were heading in the right direction and the accompaniment of the smell of burnt, decomposing flesh only confirmed that we were heading in the right direction as it thickened until you knew just from breathing that hundreds if not thousands of people had died in a fiery way recently.

Hyperion confirmed it despite no one having to ask him for a confirmation. "No doubt, the strategy was planned by Atlas in spite of being carried out by Epimetheus. Hopefully, we will have a visual on the results in the morning for it is late now and the girls had an undoubtedly large need for rest," he said in a malicious way that was almost taunting. "Yes we do but don't give _this _girl a reason to take you, throw you to the ground and smash your head until your little skull breaks from the pressure of her boots," Annabeth growled back at him.

"If the little girl does that then she will find herself in a lot more trouble than she had anticipated. One of two things will happen in the event that I am killed in this form: first, I will revive in full as the God of Light itself. The second thing is that if there is no way for me to revive and I am killed, the wrath of my daughter Eos will fall upon you unless Gabriel can calm her," Hyperion replied calmly. I admitted to Annabeth that Hyperion was right and she would not want see Eos mad; I even added that I was speaking from experience when I said that.

"You're lucky Hyperion because if it weren't for that protection, I'd smash you now," Annabeth said before she left the argument. I couldn't blame her for wanting to smash Hyperion under her boot because I wanted to do it too. For one thing, Hyperion had found a way to cheat death even though it was a way that cost a lot of power.

After putting him back in the bag with some aid, Brian saddled up and continued to lead us through the forest we were in. We were miles from any nearby city and it would take a helicopter a couple hours to come find us if we got hurt. Plus none of us except myself carried as cell phone since it was best to keep our location hidden from monsters when we were outside Camp Half-Blood and even when you were safe behind its borders. "Enough with the long faces, we're approaching the place you seek at twelve o'clock," Hyperion said.

Sure enough he was right, the smell of smoke was beginning to faintly in the air. It was official that we were headed for Saturn's Land once the smell of burning flesh in the middle of decomposition accompanied the already nasty smell of smoke. "To think that my home could be reduced to such a state… I will destroy the Titans starting with the one who carried out this plan!" Brian shouted. "Epimetheus, oh Epimetheus, come out come out wherever you are," Hyperion yelled at the top of his lungs.

I clamped my hand down on his mouth and he chuckled in the knowledge that he had already sounded an alarm. "Son of a bitch just set the alarm for Epimetheus and anything else in this damned place! We will have to find a place to settle at where they can't reach us if we want to avoid confrontation until we arrive," I snarled. Allie grabbed Hyperion and ran off into the woods to find us a spot and I sent Brian to make sure she did precisely that rather than wait until she reached a point where she could betray us if that was her mission.

Brian trusted that I might be right, which was why he went with her. Meanwhile, Annabeth and I held off those of the skeleton forces when Hyperion issued his cry for help. When that was done, we called out to Brian and he sent a flare up into the air for us to see. We arrived a nice clearing in the forest and decided to settle down there before and see where we could make our second attempt at entry into Saturn's Land.

It came in the form of an abandoned pipe with water flowing out of it. Annabeth got out a flare for me and I lit it up to see if there was anything to worry about. After I checked that it was safe, I waved my arm for the others to follow me but made sure that Hyperion was in his bag before moving on. "Annabeth, have another flare ready for me when this one goes out, please," I said.

"Do you want me to just wait until yours is almost out then light another one if the pipe is that long?" she asked. I nodded and asked how many flares we had in case this was one of those really long pipes. "We have nine right here plus another six in the bag Hyperion's making his home in," she told me. "He seems to like Allie so when and id we're on our last or second to last stick before we're out, ask her to pass up her flares to you," I said.

She nodded and we walked up the pipe with the flare's pinkish-red light keeping everything within our view. Allie fell behind a couple times but we saw to it that we stayed as a group. The pipe was long but not as long as I thought it would be and made sure that the children of Saturn went ahead first. Looking back at the inside of the pipe and seeing Annabeth climb out, I decided it was time I revealed one of my greatest secrets to her, one I had kept even from Eos that concerned why my left arm was never bare.


	31. Annabeth: Gabriel Reveals Secret To Me

**Annabeth: Gabriel reveals his greatest weapon to me**

After successfully navigating the pipe, which smelled just of rats and a couple of spiders (oh how they make me shiver), Gabriel watched as I climbed out with a look on his face I hadn't seen before. "Uncle Gabe, is something wrong?" I asked. Believe me, I wasn't used to calling him Uncle but I was trying to start it to be polite. "Number one, don't call me uncle because I haven't earned the title yet and number two, I have decided it's time I showed you something," Gabriel said to me.

"Sure, what is it?" I asked, a little cautious but at the same time I was curious. "But before I show you it though, I have to tell you a little story about how I got it first. It's the reason I have hidden it all these years from everyone I've known, even Eos, except for Zeus," he said. I sat down and made myself comfy since I knew this was probably going to be a long one and he smiled at that.

"I did not tell you much about my mother besides that I never really knew her. That was true but there was a darker and more sinister reason to why I never really gave any details. The reason is because I was the reason my father killed her when I was a little kid," Gabriel said. "Wait, he killed her although she was the one who bore you for him?" I asked.

He nodded and I decided it was best to let him tell the story before he lost the courage to do so. "What I know of what happened comes from Hestia since she was the one who saved me at Eos' urging and Helios' help. When I was about three or four years old, my mother and I were making a living by ourselves without the aid of my father. At my birthday party (either my third or fourth, I'll have to ask Hestia again at some time), my father returned for me and decided to give me a gift my mother had to refuse.

"'This boy will be my champion on Earth until I am ready to take my revenge against his brothers and sisters on Olympus', that was what Kronos said to my mother from what Helios told me. What I can remember of that incident was Kronos poking his finger into the center of my palm and it burned. The burning, as fate would have it, was not so much my life force as my mortal essence; he was making me a god before I was even ready for it. My mother tried diplomatically to get him to stop it but he ignored her and continued to burn away my mortal body," Gabriel explained.

He gulped hard and held back tears in his eyes, which was a clear sign that this was hard for him. I insisted that he continue by saying that it'd probably hurt less to let it out than to hold it in. "He burned off my entire left hand before my mother took a champagne bottle and hit him upside the head with it. It shattered and left deep lacerations on his head down to his left ear before he turned around and received a cut across his right eye from what remained of the bottle.

"Anger for my mother took his focus off me and stopped the spell before he could even begin it. All she wanted was for him to be focused on her and told me to run to my room and not ever come out even if Kronos told me to. She even added that I should lock my room so that he would have difficulty getting in and I went into my room while she held her ground against my father. I obeyed and locked my closed bedroom door from my father just before hearing him yell at her about interfering in his affairs.

"'You dare defy me mortal woman! Remember who I am, I am the father of the gods of Olympus and the Lord of the Titans themselves!' My mother told him to go to Tartarus and added that she didn't care if he was the lord of more than one universe but she wanted him to keep away from me. I heard the sound of a blade being drawn out of a scabbard after that and the last thing I heard my mother say was that she was not afraid of him.

"After she made that bold statement he told her that she was a strong woman but not _that _strong. I heard a sickening sound of flesh and clothes ripping at that point with bones breaking and liquid splashing onto the marble floor of our home. My mother did not scream once although she probably endured enough pain to make someone else scream, maybe even make grown men shriek. I heard a thud to the floor and the beginning of footsteps that were headed in my direction and though I was young, I knew there was no way that the door was going to hold against him for even a moment.

"He broke it down just as a hand came on my shoulder and assured me that I would be all right. I turned to see Hestia for the first time and told her to look at what Kronos had done to my hand. 'We're going to fix that baby, we just have to get out of here first before we do', she said to me. She did it with such a voice that I suddenly wasn't afraid of my father or afraid of what he might do when he came in.

"Hestia told me that the only way out was for me to hold my ground and defend myself against my father so I waited until he came in. She told me to use my left arm with the golden hand and I instinctively rose it up into fighting position. Kronos came in and saw me having the calm of an adult who had faced fights before and won. He laughed but that was before I punched him in the balls then tripped him before making my escape.

"Hestia lit him aflame while I saw the ruined body of my mother who had taken a massive stab to the chest as well as several slashes across her face and lower body. Blood was splattered over most of the TV set, almost all of the living room carpet, and all of the couch we had shared before he returned. I noticed that some had even stained my father's face, hands, and sickle before I escaped him to my uncle's house. On the note of Kronos, I heard him vow that I would never escape him and I looked at my hand as proof of the fact that I wouldn't.

"Even when I was in bed with Eos, she never saw my hand because Zeus had it disguised. That is, unless I told him I didn't want it disguised and I just barely got finished telling him telepathically that I wanted you to see it. Actually, I told him to undo it entirely so that everyone can see what sort of beast my father tried to make me into," he concluded. Then he pulled off his glove, rolled up his sleeve and showed me a golden hand on his left arm; the gold color extended just past his wrist but was a mark nonetheless.

"I can use it as a weapon that strengthens my punch several times over. Steel walls have fallen before this baby and now, Epimetheus shall fall and so will Saturn if necessary," he told me. "Thank you for sharing that with me Gabriel, I would certainly love to see your hand at work," I said with a laugh and that was true. I really did want to see this power in action and the upcoming fight with Epimetheus was the only way to see it.

"See that tree on your left that has the massive curve on it before continuing to ascend to the sky?" Gabriel asked. I nodded and then I got the idea that I was supposed to move considering the way he looked at me. Then in the snap of a finger, he punched the tree and split the top half off the tree and shattered it into millions of tiny wooden fractures. The fractures themselves burned up and the stump at the lower half cauterized so that the tree could never grow back.

"Kronos gave me a power that has allowed me to destroy gods and mortals alike. It doesn't matter who my opponent is, this weapon I possess helps me take them down when I have to. That's how I won against Hyperion after he was transformed back into his original form and attempted to assassinate Zeus," Gabriel told me. "This power of yours is incredible, how come you don't use it more often?" I asked.

"Because the more it's used, the more I lose my mortality and get closer to becoming a god. That's something I've run away from ever since Kronos tried to make me into one and my mother died stopping it," Gabriel answered. "But Kronos is dead, you have nothing to be afraid of now," I told him. It had to be true because yes Kronos was dead and yes he had tried to make Gabriel his champion and failed.

"No, I still have something that holds me back from becoming a god. In fact, at least three things that hold me back from becoming like Zeus or our brothers," Gabriel replied. I asked him what those things could be and he told me that one of them was that he would have to die before becoming a god and he didn't want to die yet. "The next is that my mother died to prevent me from becoming a god so maybe there was a reason behind that," he said.

He added that the last thing was that he feared that if he became a god, he would turn against Olympus and attempt to destroy it like his father did before him. "But the worst of that is that I'm afraid I might actually possess the power to succeed," he said. "You're mortal for these reasons but will you accept becoming a god if you have to?" I asked. He answered by nodding his head and saying only if he had to would he take the mantle of an immortal deity.

"I am content to have this as my greatest weapon and I have decided that you be the first to see it. Please prove to me later on that I did it for the right reasons and chose _you _for the reasons," he asked. I agreed to doing so and he smiled, saying that I was a true daughter of Athena. "I've only met one other like you but she died because of my feelings for her," he said.

I realized he was talking about Nadine and I knew there was no helping him there. "Let's reunite with Brian and Allie, they're probably still waiting for us by the river like I told them to. I want to prevent Hyperion from finding any means of exploiting us like he almost did when he sounded the alarm of our presence," Gabriel said. Believe me when I say I couldn't agree more on that matter and followed him to the river he spoke of, which had been newly created by the destruction of some of the pipelines in Saturn's Land.

We ran in case the children of Saturn were in trouble but I was surprised to find that they weren't. Allie was more silent and a little more sad looking than ever before but besides that there was no trouble. I was about to say that there was no trouble and was glad they were okay when suddenly, a battalion of skeleton soldiers sprung around us as though we were caterpillars in a fire ants' colony. Quickly, my knife was pulled into my hand and Gabriel had the Sky Sword of his head so that he could tap into some lightning or something like that.

Brian had the Sword of Saturn out and Allie had her two short swords out to fight with Hyperion's bag strapped onto her. She was at my side and the boys were behind us as we prepared to fight. When Gabriel lit up the sky, we began our battle and killed as many as we could. Allie and I fought together for the first and only time in our lives!


	32. Annabeth: Accidental Separation

**Annabeth: Accidentally separating from Gabriel and Brian**

Allie and I fought so hard together for so long that we unnoticeably distanced from Gabriel and Brian. There were the occasional lightning bolts that struck down some of our enemies but we were mostly on our own. In the distance, I saw Gabriel create a tornado that swept most of our enemies away and was headed toward us. Allie told me to find something to hold on and I was too surprised to hear her say anything to disagree or argue.

We both held on to the branches of a dead tree and tried our best to hold out until the storm passed. But the worst part was when the storm stopped blowing up into the sky and exploded outwards with enough force to break the branches we were holding on to and sending us flying. Luckily for Hyperion, his bag was sent flying out of Allie's reach and the fall saw him landing in soft mud where he could then loosen the bonds of his imprisonment and escape to alert Epimetheus if he wished. Meanwhile, Allie and I were sent down a rocky hill that beat and scraped us harder and more deeply than we had imagined.

I hit pile after pile of rocks and was repeatedly sent back spinning in the air from the force of the hit. Allie was not looking much better either and unlike me, (I was spinning sideways so that my back was at the most risk) she was spinning forward and sometimes hitting her face or butt on the rock. She held out her arms to protect her face as she could only protect that and ended up with arms that were severely scraped in exchange for a face that only received a few marks here and there. The hill was a long and wide one created by the destruction of the walls of Saturn's Land and not too far away from the statue Brian spoke of.

I landed in the water but it didn't help much in the way of softening the fall but Allie landed on her back, her feet just a few inches away from the stream I had fallen into. Hyperion slithered next to her while I crawled out of the water and tried to stop him from doing anything to her. "Oh don't be alarmed Athena's daughter, I'm just checking to see if she's still alive," he told me. I made sure I was ready to pounce on him in case he drew back to bite her but he simply placed his chin on her throat and checked for a pulse.

"Let's see, she has no permanent injuries although I'd give her arms and her back a look and see if there's any damage. She's alive but she'll be unconscious for a while, perhaps no more than about ten or fifteen minutes. After that she will not be able to stand up, let alone fight, for another half hour or so but nothing permanent as far as I can tell," he said. That analysis made me wonder just what the extent of his powers in this form were but I was sure glad I could stand up although my back hurt too much to stand tall and my legs were shaky from the fall.

"Anything broken on your back or what?" Hyperion asked and I shrugged as best I could. He looked at me briefly and told me to try and stand up as straight as I could without stopping from the pain. I almost made it and was not pleased to see that I failed to stand all the way upright but Hyperion looked at me the same way a doctor would. After getting up, I could swear I felt my lungs fighting to squeeze in even a little oxygen and pump out carbon dioxide again, each breath laborious and difficult.

Hyperion took one look at me and said that though there shouldn't be anything broken, I would definitely need to examine my back the moment I return to Camp Half-Blood. "That is, if you ever return to Camp Half-Blood alive after all this," Hyperion said with a chuckle. "I'm pretty certain that although I'm badly wounded, I will return to Camp alive," I told him. "Oh but what makes you so certain of that when you consider that there is a traitor in your group?" Hyperion asked.

"A traitor like you perhaps?" I answered, hoping that catch him off guard. "How wrong you are for you see, I was never allied with you to begin with. Perhaps consider someone amongst you who _is _an ally and is not a boy," Hyperion replied. Allie was beginning to stir at this point and I was wondering if it could be possible.

I had had my suspicions about Allie and none of them were too pleasant but I never would have guessed. "You Athena children pride yourselves on knowing everything yet time after time, even I have a few tricks in my bag that you never would have guessed. I came with a fully prepared plan in the event that Kronos was defeated and consulted Prometheus and his ability of premonition before even igniting it," he said. "And how does she fit into your plan?" I asked.

"Oh it's quite simple really, my plan included making little steps toward a point where we could then destroy your precious camp as well as mighty Olympus without the aid of your grandfather Kronos. She was the second stage of those little steps when she betrayed Saturn's Land to me and the impregnation of Gabriel's mother with him was the first," Hyperion answered. "Wait, how does _Gabriel _fit into your plans?" I inquired. "Again, quite simple: I told Kronos that impregnating a mortal with his seed might give us a chance for an heir to the throne that was more than capable of restoring us to our former glory; I was quite surprised when Gabriel's mother attacked Kronos and prevented the completion of my plan on that end," Hyperion told me.

"So your overall plan was to use Gabriel as a banner for the Titans to rally upon in the event that Kronos was defeated. But take steps towards making it easier for him while you trained and groomed him for the throne. Pretty complex and sick plan if you ask me and only fit for a god of your cunning," I said. It was true I thought Hyperion was very cunning to have come up with something that would take a crime-scene investigator weeks to figure out.

"Well Hyperion, what makes you certain your plan has not failed?" I asked. "That's a very good question and I developed an excellent course of action to counter any failure. If Kronos died and did not conquer Olympus, then Prometheus would ascend to the throne until Gabriel was ready to accept. Considering that Gabriel has already been indulged in the Olympian path too deeply, I have made Prometheus the permanent head of the renegade Titans.

"Meanwhile, I would manipulate things from the background and see to it that Gabriel and Prometheus both destroy themselves so that I may rule the universe as the sole ruler to be unchallenged and unchecked by all. My mother Gaia even said that had I ruled in Kronos' place she probably would never have challenged it," he answered. Then he added that he had enough of revealing his plans himself and turned to Allie.

Now it was time for a confession and I knew that this was going to be absolutely painful for all of us. After surviving a fall down a hill, fighting against undead soldiers, and having wonderful talks with a normally silent girl… My reward was finding out that she was a traitor in the making and I had fallen right into the hands of those she truly served! It was something that made me want to slap her but my instincts as a child of Athena told me not to do that as I would then be no better than her or the snake Hyperion.


	33. Annabeth: Learning A Terrible Secret

**Annabeth: Facing Hyperion's trap and learning Allie's secret association**

"For two thousand years, I have prepared for the day when I could at last see Saturn die for betraying Kronos. And it was for two thousand years that I watched as that poor soul realized his mistake in siding with the Olympians. Now Allie, do tell your friend of your true association in this war for your lord and master," Hyperion said. Allie woke up and looked like her memories came flooding back into her head the moment she heard Hyperion's voice speak of her treachery.

"I did not sign up for all of this out of hate for Saturn's Land or even hate for my family. Believe me Annabeth when I say I really like you!" she said. "Then why did you betray your own people and lead the Titans to where they could destroy them?" I asked. "I signed up for being their guide and the one who ultimately undid Saturn's Land out of fear and love," she answered.

I was baffled but I decided it was best to let her continue with it all. "Before he died, my brother Conan had been captured by the Titans and had been subjected to their torture for weeks. Hyperion and this big dude, Atlas I think he was called, negotiated that they would free my brother if I agreed to lead them to Saturn's Land. Hyperion even ordered Atlas to come with me and make sure that I wasn't leading them to the wrong place when I agreed to take them there," Allie explained.

"All of Saturn's Land destroyed simply out of love for a sibling. Such a shame that love is something so usable and is full of utilizations even to someone like myself," Hyperion mocked. "Atlas scared me more than Hyperion did since he was a snake even then and Atlas was a full-fledged god.

"Plus he did display all the powers of a god who could only be beaten on his terms by his master. To this day, Atlas holds me in an iron grip of fear and anguish even now that I have found out that my brother has been killed by the Titans," she said. Her eyes begged me to forgive her for her mistakes but something told me that this was a very cowardly girl who would never have understood when it was best to let go of something for the sake of saving something bigger. "Atlas is dead Allie, did you know that?" I asked her.

Her eyes widened with somewhat of a glimmer of hope in them. It was answer enough for me and proceeded to tell her that Atlas had been killed two weeks ago when he was thrown into the very core of Mount Orthys. The power of it was enough to vaporize his very essence but his power was also enough to destroy the core and bring about an end to Orthys. I ended it by telling her that it had been done by a child of Zeus named Thalia Grace who was also a lieutenant of Artemis and her Hunters.

"Thanks for picking to tell me when Hyperion is next to my foot and has enhanced the cobra venom so that if I betray him now, it could end my life in minutes! Any sooner could have helped me resist him but now I have to wait until I'm separated from him," Allie said. "_If _you are even allowed a chance that is and I am not going to willingly allow a chance for it to happen while you could still betray me," Hyperion assured her. "And if you're so certain we'll never make it out alive, how come we're not surrounded by your forces yet?" I asked.

"How I have already given Epimetheus a beacon of our location. You see, when I was checking Allie's pulse I was healing her to the best ability and simultaneously sending a beacon to any god nearby telling them where I am and who I am with," Hyperion answered. I realized what he meant: it was beacons like that that we're the reason why no demigod in their right mind carried cell phones lest we'd be ringing a dinner bell for the monsters we usually had to escape before reaching Camp Half-Blood and after leaving it. "Epimetheus always stalls like this and the reason is simple: he does not have the willpower of his brother and can only do one thing at a time, meaning that he is probably in the middle of some other tasks unless he sent out a taskforce before going to those other duties," Hyperion added.

"Speak of the devil, I see some soldiers off in the distance coming upriver and along the hill," Allie said. "Ah so Epimetheus was indeed busy in preparation for your demise and Gabriel's capture. Maybe that's what kept him busy for this long," Hyperion rhetorically stated. "Was this all part of your plan too or was it longer than you liked?" I taunted him.

"Careful who you insult young lady for this may not be a trap you can escape from. Surrender now and your life will be painlessly spared to see the reawakening of Saturn as well as his destruction by our hand," Hyperion told me. "If you think you can use me to barter with Gabriel, you're wrong," I said to him. "Young lady, I don't intend to use you as leverage against Gabriel; I have had him captured as well along with Brian," he calmly replied with a chuckle.

That left me confused and wondering one thing: if Gabriel was already captured alongside Brian, then why was I being taken alive? Then I realized that he probably wanted me to see how Saturn would be awakened with the aid of Brian and Gabriel. They would also want me to see them fulfill their vengeance on Saturn before slitting my throat or worse. But I was not about to make my capture easy as I knew Gabriel and Brian certainly didn't.

So I started fighting back and even killed a few of the soldiers before one of them tripped me and made me hit my face in the sand. "I admire your passion Annabeth Chase but I am afraid it will not save you this time. You may have gotten away with having the very blade used to kill Kronos but you will not go unpunished for much longer," Hyperion said to me. At that moment, I knew he had it out for me because of Kronos' death but I wondered how he knew about my blade being the one that killed him.

"Hey Hyperion, how did you know it was my blade that killed Kronos?" I asked. "When his essence was destroyed, we Titans took the moment in like a computer takes in information and we knew everything instantaneously. But in my case, word came to me from my daughter Selene who got it from your mother," Hyperion answered. As I was carried away by one of skeleton soldiers, I began to wonder to myself if there had really been anything in it for me and if I should have stayed with Percy back at Camp.

_Do not give up yet my daughter, you are closer to victory than you think _my mom told me telepathically. _Kind of hard to see how that's possible when I have been captured and now I'm being dragged to see the rebirth and death of a Roman god _I replied. _This is all part of the prophecy that the Fates of yielded in the life of Gabriel and Brian. You will be witness to something greater than you will have ever known in your entire life and that girl Allie will be of help in it _my mother told me.

_Point of order Mom, she has already compromised the rest of the group to Hyperion and Epimetheus. I don't see how she's going to be part of something heroic anymore than I can see how I shouldn't be humiliated about being captured by a punch of skeletons with ease _I snapped. _Trust me my daughter, it will not be as bad as you think it will be _she said to me. _Mom, don't you care that I have been captured by the Titans and am being taken to watch the death of a god? _I asked.

_Of course I care, which is why intervention on the part of Allie will be my doing. She only wanted to save her brother from the Titans and her attachment was too strong for her. Now that Atlas is dead and Hyperion is broken down to the form of a snake, hope remains for her _my mother answered. _How is that possible; I cannot defeat them if Gabriel cannot _I told her.

_Victory favors you my daughter, you just don't see it yet _Athena replied. I didn't try to argue anymore at that point and just simply thanked her for attempting to cheer me up. _This battle is just the beginning of something even greater than you could possibly know. Only by surviving to that something will you prevail in this war against the Titans_ my mother said before departing from my mind.

We had a long walk to go but I made sure to look around and see the foundations of several places that had once been homes, departments of government, a couple schools, and one sewage plant that didn't reek nearly as bad as a sewage plant in New York or Los Angeles. Either they had really good treatment methods that I didn't even know about or it was just that it was overpowered by the smoke and the fire that still continued to burn at what remained of what was probably a glorious city. The part I hated about the Titans was that they were so destructive in their quest for revenge against the Olympians but any time gods warred with each other, mortals were always at risk especially if they were powerful gods like Zeus and his brothers. And now, I was being taken to see a fight aimed specifically at destroying a god for reasons as petty as any that a mortal could think of.

They were destroying Saturn out of revenge and the guy had no means of defending himself against a fellow Titan. We arrived at the location of the statue shortly after climbing all the way back up the hill and walking a ways past the drain that had been my entrance into this hellhole. I was hauled past dead bodies of men, women, and children burned to a crisp by the power of the Titans or brought down by the blades of their soldiers after escaping the blast. Many times, I past by houses with families burned where they last were whether it be in bed with their loved ones or eating and possibly having wonderful times.

Sometimes, I saw women clutching their children around them just before the blast came upon them while their man was away and probably watching in horror before being struck down by these worthless minions that now carried me to my impending doom. Meanwhile, Hyperion was simply biding his time on a pillow that Allie carried near her face as per his orders in case she tried to betray him even now. Suddenly I was thrown off the shoulder of the soldiers carrying me and landed right next to Gabriel and Brian although I don't think I would have said I was happy until I saw them. Brian had already figured out that Allie was the traitor and Gabriel was trying to calm him down and keep him from losing it to the point of trying to murder her.

As for me, all I could really think about was how Percy was doing. There was no way that I could have put myself on the line if I had known this would happen. Now more than ever, I was wishing that Seaweed Brian was here beside me. It would let me be at peace.


	34. Gabriel: Learning Hyperion's Plan

**Gabriel: Epimetheus and Hyperion reveal their ultimate plan and Saturn's return**

Well, all I can say right now is that it was nice to see Annabeth again but that was the only nice thing about the occasion. Hyperion had Allie carry him next to Epimetheus, who had forcibly removed the sack containing the Eye of Pandora away from him when we were captured. As for Brian himself, the good thing was that if his one arm had not been bound behind his back he would have been able to reach the Sword of Saturn and call upon the powers of his father to end it. The story of our capture was amusing since it took the lives of nearly two thousand soldiers of the Titans before we finally were brought down by a surprise attack from Epimetheus that struck us from behind.

"Gabriel, son of Saturn's Greek ego and creator Kronos, so glad you could join us for the resurrection and destruction of Saturn himself. It has always been amusing to ask ourselves what was to become of you until now," Hyperion taunted. "If you didn't have my hands tightly tied behind my back, I'd give you two nice birdies and shout 'Fuck you' but then I might be encouraging an insult that would not be avenged," I said back to him. "Bring them both men before the Eyes of Pandora and put the missing one back in on my command," Hyperion ordered.

"Yes sir, shall I unbind their marked hands when we get there?" Epimetheus asked. "Not yet, I want them to know why they have been chosen for this," Hyperion answered. _Oh crap, another rambling from the god whose only goodness is present in his kids _I thought to myself. I wondered how Eos would feel if she found out her dad had been up to no good with me and my friends down on Earth.

Good thing was that she could actually do something about him now that he was broken of most of his power and reduced only to the form of a cobra. "Gabriel, as you may have guessed, your left arm and Brian's right hand together can deflect the lasers that will emit from the Eyes of Pandora long enough for Saturn's revival to begin. You will even be the ones who forced the lasers to reflect back into the Eyes and ignite the rebirth of Saturn," Hyperion began. "That's why when we order it, your marked hands will be freed but only to reflect the lasers from these powerful jewels," Epimetheus interrupted.

Disregarding that last outburst from Epimetheus, Hyperion continued unfolding his complex plan relating to Saturn. "As you know, Saturn betrayed your father and attempted to murder him in the process of freeing himself from the duty of being his Roman ego. Ever since that day, two thousand years ago, we Titans have been planning to take our revenge against Saturn and decided to start with his children before destroying the god. We figured that we needed to destroy his spirit before we destroyed him physically ourselves," he explained.

"Why would his spirit be broken by the death of his children if they were the ones who fought and imprisoned him?" Brian asked. "That is the public story and the public lie that Beowulf and Saturn agreed to issue. The real story behind why Saturn was contained here is entirely different," Hyperion answered. Interested, I decided to pay close heed to this and see if this would effect how Saturn would act when he was resurrected.

"Saturn felt that his children needed to have some sort of reprieve from the Roman egos of the gods of Olympus. He decided that he would be sealed in a statue made in his image by Beowulf the Great in exchange for protecting his children in Mist so thick that even the mightiest of the Olympians could not see through without consent. It was his last wish that his children remain safe from any threat from the Romans but he didn't count on any Greek deities attacking them. Besides possibly Diana, the Roman deities have pretty much forgotten about Saturn and would not mourn or celebrate his death if they found out about it.

"But when we Titans kill him and finish with you, we will be celebrating gloriously. It will be far better than anything that any mortal country on Earth from America to China could conduct. This is where you meet your doom but are blessed to see Epimetheus make his first true kill in this war," Hyperion concluded. Now I knew why it was that they brought Epimetheus along and why they wanted to bring back Saturn.

They wanted Epimetheus to kill a powerful deity and take some glory for himself. I truly felt sorry for Epimetheus but Hyperion was really beginning to piss me off more than ever before. "Your hatred for me grows with every moment, good. Such a shame that it has been rendered useless by the bonds that hold you hostage and the fact that soon such hatred will no longer matter," Hyperion taunted.

Then he ordered Epimetheus to plunge the missing Eye of Pandora into the socket where it belonged. "Soon, it will no longer matter what you do for Saturn will die by our hands," Hyperion said. "Hyperion underestimates the curse we put on Saturn before he was sealed away. Allie and I both know of it since we used to lead the children of Saturn and were required to know about it," Brian whispered to me.

"What curse?" I asked. "Saturn cannot be killed unless one of his children willingly lays down their lives as sacrifice to him. Then another one with a mark like mine must absorb his essence into his or her body in order to contain him. Beowulf the Great refused to do this and that's why he was confined to the statue," Brian answered.

"So what's your big plan?" I inquired. This curse idea was interesting and though it wouldn't be long before we were shot at by the lasers, I had the feeling that Brian had an idea in mind. "I'll lose the Sword of Saturn once my father awakens completely since it was originally his weapon. So can you see if you can distract Hyperion and Allie long enough for me to get a weapon off one of the soldiers once this is over with?" he asked.

I nodded then the lasers shot out at us, faster than any normal human could react. On my end, the laser shot into my left hand and the golden mark began to expand up my arm as it was supposed to do whenever it absorbed magic. Brian received his laser on the mark that was embedded on the palm of his hand. For a little while, we both just held the lasers right where they were since they were too strong for us to anything about.

Then an idea came to my head and I told Brian to push with me on the count of three. "Remember, if both lasers are deflected simultaneously Saturn will be resurrected," I told him. He nodded and I counted just before we simultaneously made the push and reflected the lasers back to their source of emission. Now the resurrection of Saturn would begin and the last thing we saw before blazing bright light made us turn away was the stone of the statue crumbling and breaking off as well as Brian's sword flying out of its scabbard.

It grew in size until it fit perfectly in Saturn's hand and transformed into a sickle but we didn't see that it had changed shape until after the light passed over us. "Hey Gabe, another part to the curse you should know," Brian shouted. "What is it now?" I asked. "Upon resurrection, Saturn would shrink until he was the same size as you or me!" Brian answered.

Sure enough, blue lightning came over Saturn and began to shrink him down to the size of a human being. He was still noticeably taller than even I was and shouted at all of us. "Who dares to awaken me and show me that my land has been destroyed?" he asked. "Oh dear Saturn, it is I the lord Hyperion who dares to use these two children here to awaken you to a destroy town," Hyperion answered.

"You dare to do this you little talking snake?" Saturn boomed. "I'm afraid so and do permit to say that I dare to send the brother of Prometheus, Epimetheus, to destroy you. Shall we then my dear friend?" Hyperion said before turning to his fellow Titan for confirmation. "With pleasure my lord," Epimetheus replied.

Epimetheus attacked and Saturn dodged, too surprised by the speed of the Titan's spear to do anything else. After dodging the stab, Saturn took his sickle and hacked at Epimetheus horizontally from the shoulder to the waist. The Titan deflected all these blows and Saturn deflected of dodged all of Epimetheus' attempts to take his life. "Saturn, remember the curse that you can only be killed by a child of yours willingly lying down their lives by your blade!" Brian shouted.

Smiling Saturn thanked his son for that tip and proceeded to attack Epimetheus with an even harder vengeance than I had ever seen. Strangely enough, Saturn's sword whistled past me but cut deep enough at my shackles for me to free myself. I reached for the Sky Sword and used its power to throw the remains of the statue at Epimetheus and Hyperion. Epimetheus destroyed them whenever he wasn't focused on fighting Saturn but it was when Saturn took a good look at the ruins of his children's homeland that things really got out of hand.

"Um Brian, I think you might want to drag your butt back over here and tell me if what I'm looking at is good or bad," I said to Brian as I watched Saturn swell with rage. By that time, Brian had finally gotten a sword off one of the soldiers since the rest were too distracted with the duel between Saturn and Epimetheus to notice him. "Um Gabriel, I get the feeling that by the look on Saturn's face it would be wise to assume that that's not good," Brian said. I nodded in agreement and that was just before we saw Saturn turn his sickle into a two-handed sword and heard him bellow a battle cry filled with bloodthirsty rage.

He rose it over his head and Epimetheus rose to his own defense by raising his spear to deflect the sword. I was too full of surprise to help Epimetheus even when I attempted to raise the Sky Sword again in his defense. Brian told me to not do so that we could see what happened as a result of Saturn's anger. What we saw was Saturn slicing the spear in half then cutting each half into smaller pieces, starting with the severing of the sharp edges on each side.

After that he took Epimetheus by the throat with his left hand and spun around to throw him on the ground beneath his feet. It ended when Saturn thrust his sword at Epimetheus, who grabbed it and held his own for a long time. He even managed to push it fully away from him before Saturn quickly recovered and thrust it again at a speed Epimetheus couldn't stop it. The sword plunged into Epimetheus' chest and even penetrated his heart deep enough to cause internal bleeding in humans.

Even for a god, that's a fatal spot because now Epimetheus would die but then I realized something. Hyperion didn't exactly cared who lived and who died as long as he had enough power to make himself whole again! He only wanted to see Saturn dead and use his power to become whole because it would fit in with his lust for revenge against the Roman god as well as the damage he had already done. "For your treason against the former king of the Roman gods, I take your power and use it to destroy your armies!" Saturn yelled.

"Uh I don't know about you Brian but I think it's time to get Annabeth and find cover. Let's do it while we still can!" I shouted. Brian nodded and ran with me to where Annabeth was and freed her with his spare sword. All three of us ran after that and decided to hide behind some rocks in the hills not too far from where the statue had once been. The blue wave of energy past over us and I was surprised to see that we were all still alive in spite of the fact that the wave had vaporized all the skeleton soldiers that had been within range of it.

At least twenty thousand undead soldiers were destroyed in that blast but that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was that Saturn had only taken as much power as he needed and we discovered that what remained was being absorbed by Hyperion. Allie gently put him down as he began to absorb the remaining power within the deceased Epimetheus and change first from a snake into a tiny human then grow until he was the size of the average human being. At first he was naked but he soon fixed that by recreating a suit of golden armor that resembled what he had worn when he battled me along with a flowing cape hung up by the shoulders.

Then two curved short swords appeared into his hands like before and his laugh at having become whole filled the air. Quickly, I told Annabeth and Brian to duck as I did the same just in time for an overwhelming amount of bright light took our view of everything away. "The power of the light courses through me again; at last I, Hyperion, am lord of the light once again!" he shouted. Then the lights went out and we were capable of seeing everything again and climbed slowly out of our hiding place.

"Thank you Allie for your service to me while I was trapped in that _pitiful _state of existence. Now I demand only one more task of you: destroy those three fools over there while I take care of your father. Do not worry, the Fates have already deemed me victorious in this battle against him," he told her. She nodded and turned to face us before unsheathing her swords and approaching us once more.

Her steps were slow and showed reluctance as she came close to us before anger and guilt overwhelmed her. The battle cry that came from her lungs was like no other I had heard from a daughter of Saturn as she charged blindly forward. I rose to met the challenge but Brian blocked me with his remaining arm and shook his head at me. When Annabeth tried, I stopped her and told her that this was Brian's challenge and not ours.

"If I may so before you go to face her, could somehow persuade her to be on our side?" I whispered into his ear. "How? As long as Hyperion remains as powerful as he is, there's no way we could persuade her to fight against us," he whispered back. "Hello, why do you think she swore allegiance to him in the first place?" I reminded him.

Then his mind went and did its own thing, thinking about precisely how to do what I asked him. I would realize that he would not get her on our side so much as make her use her loyalty to Hyperion to our advantage. Though I myself was fit to be a general, Brian was pretty skilled at such persuasion. After all, it's the reason we nicknamed him the "Sneaky Little Fox" back when he and I were training under Perseus, years ago.


	35. Gabriel: A Great Sacrifice

**Gabriel: One of the greatest sacrifices I ever witnessed in my life and my final battle with Hyperion**

Brian managed to stop Allie from continuing her attack and I watched as they talked for a little bit. Then Allie turned around and headed to supposedly attack Saturn but that's what was interesting. We got closer and realized that Allie was trying to taunt Saturn into killing her. "Kill me father, I betrayed your children to their deaths and I deserve to die for it!" she yelled.

"Allie, I told you to deal with those fools back there and you better do it! Now before I get mad and decide to vaporize you!" Hyperion ordered. "Enough of this nonsense, I will destroy Hyperion because you fail to heed the curse that only the sacrifice of one of my children will destroy me!" Saturn shouted before lunging for Hyperion yet again. Allie got in the way once more and held her own against her father to the growing frustration of her master. "What are you doing, young fool?" Saturn asked.

"Trying to get you to kill me as punishment for my betrayal!" Allie answered. Saturn pushed her out of the way and said that he would not kill her but would proceed to destroy Hyperion. Then I held my breath as time seemed to slow down and Saturn lunged for a surprised Hyperion. Surprised at the fact that Allie was so ready to lay down her life for him or anyone else and curious if it was the latter.  
Brian, Annabeth, and I came racing down the hill to see if we could somehow save Hyperion but Allie took care of that for us. We stopped as we saw her jump in front of Saturn's sword and take the blow for her master. Blood splashed all over Saturn's face, sword, and hand if it didn't stain a little of Hyperion's breastplate. Hyperion show no remorse as he sheathed the swords and walked away, having failed to destroy Saturn himself and knowing these was nothing that could be done to stop the curse now.

But I was determined to stop him and used the power of the Sky Sword to electrocute him enough to get his attention. "You still have your little grudge with me, remember? You can still walk away with _a _victory if you have the guts to avenge your defeat last time," I taunted. Then I told Annabeth and Brian to leave me to deal with Hyperion alone so that it was fair on the good Titan of light.

"I have never forgotten what you did to me and I have never forgotten my vow to destroy you! After that, I will have to discipline the naughty little wench that used to be my beautiful Eos myself," Hyperion replied. "How has she been naughty when she has expressed love for me even before we fought each other in that first battle? Besides, as far as I can tell, you weren't the one who stood by her side when her heart had been broken by your betrayal," I asked.

"You will die for that insolent remark!" Hyperion shouted before charging at me with both swords facing me. The swords were slashing at me before long in the same direction but I was able to deflect it all with the Sky Sword. While Hyperion and I fought, it started to rain all around us and I knew I had an advantage over Hyperion here. If he tried to use his light against me, I could count on lightning being directed by the Sky Sword to strike him where his powers would be useless: his eyes.

"You know Hyperion, remember last time how I defeated you by stabbing you in the ass with one of my knives? Do you still have the scar?" I asked. It was just meant to taunt him and get him to where I had a position of advantage over him. "If you're trying to say that I am every bit as weak as I was the day you did that then you are sorely mistaken," he told me.

I smiled in my mind and I knew that he was taking the bait of my trick. "Oh so how are you going to prove that you much stronger than you were that day?" I asked. I knew that that would be more than enough to get him going and here's the reason I said his eyes were the source of his power. Whenever he hah the bright light come out, it had always the eyes always glowed bright even if he rose his hand and the light emitted from his hand instead.

I was willing to gamble that there was a connection between Hyperion and the light itself that could only be cut if I blinded him. "Feel the awesome power of the light itself!" he yelled. I shielded my eyes with my arm and just knew that the light would be too bright to aim clearly so I telepathically told the powers of the skies to aim a lightning bolt at his eyes. To my surprise, it worked because a few seconds later saw Hyperion cry out in pain and the turn off the light so I could face him.

"I may no longer be connected to my power as the god of light but I am still a god and therefore, still a formidable match," Hyperion warned. "Better that you fight me with no power over the light than otherwise. Besides, Helios was always one who appreciated a fair fight between two or more opponents," I told him. Despite having been hit in the eyes with lightning, he fought as though he could still see and I didn't doubt he could.

We fought over the edge of a cliff and kept out fight their just slashing and hacking at each other in spite of that normally requiring movement. Hyperion and I exchanged no words as we fought over the cliff and saw that down below had been a plant where steel had been produced and a pool of molten steel lay down there for whoever fell in. That immediately gave me an idea that I knew was going to work if Hyperion was willing to follow with the rhythm of the duel. I rose my sword over my head to slice him in two and gripped it very loosely so that my idea could begin taking root.

Hyperion followed my movement and used a scissor-like movement with his blades to knock the Sky Sword out of my hands. I smiled outward and inward but he didn't notice the external smile because he was wheeling around to hack me down the same way with both blades. In my head, I was telling Eos to forgive me for the death of her father and waited a little bit for a reply. _Gabriel, I no longer have love for Hyperion; he is not my father anymore so feel free to destroy him _she replied to me.

Something about the way she said it bothered me but I didn't ask her what was up. Then I snapped Hyperion's wrist and pushed him down onto his hindquarters, which landed just on the edge of the cliff. Surprised, he did nothing except raise his remaining sword to his defense as I raised the one I stole and brought it down with enough force to break the rock at Hyperion's feet and send him falling into the pool of molten metal. When I knew he was not doing anything to escape from his fate, I threw the sword I had stolen aside and it clanged before falling into the pit with its original owner.

I recovered the Sky Sword just in time to see the essence of Hyperion scattered to the four winds in a destructive fashion and went to check on Brian. When I saw him again, he was holding the dying Allie in his remaining arm and she was coughing on her own blood. Saturn moped in the background about having cut down his own daughter although she had gotten in his way and did nothing to escape what was to happen next. Allie's head bent back after a while and far enough to where I knew she was dead but that was not the end for her just yet.

A blue light began to glow and I realized that her power and what would have been her life force were joining together in one great power. I told Annabeth to stand back as this was probably going to get ugly before long but instead, something better happened. Her power formed a laser beam that cut into Saturn's heart, exposing his essence to anything that could destroy it… or absorb it. "I sacrifice my mark in exchange for a new arm designed only to contain within my body the essence of Saturn himself!" Brian shouted.

His mark on the palm of his right hand glowed brighter than it had ever done before and I watched as the golden orbs of Saturn's essence flew toward the mark and vanishing as soon as they touched it. In no time, Brian was absorbing the power of Saturn at a rate I had never seen him absorb any power before this day. "I think that things might actually start improving from here on out," I said. And things were indeed looking better than I originally thought they would be considering that I had finally destroyed Hyperion once and for all, seen Allie lay down her life to see what Brian was presently doing, and saving what remained of Saturn's Land.

When Brian was nearing the finish of absorbing the very essence of Saturn into himself, Saturn's body began to age and rot faster than any other body I had seen before. Oceanus' body did not start decomposing nearly as fast nor turned to bleach-white bones in practically the blink of an eye. A bright light came over us but not like Hyperion's where it was impossible to see anything with or without sunglasses but if hurt our eyes all the same. After the light passed over us, I saw Brian's hand and noticed that the mark was gone and I asked if he was fine.

"Actually I've never felt better in my entire life for some bizarre reason," he said. But that was before I saw him grimace in pain and place his hand over the stump that used to be his left arm. After that he was making every effort not scream in pain and I told him to lie down while the transfer happened. However, that did nothing to relieve the pain he was going through as his stump opened up and the missing bone started to grow out of it.

Annabeth planted her face deep into my shoulder and tried her best to cover her ears from the screams of pain that came out when his efforts to hold them in failed. It was almost unbearable to watch my friend go through this and I wondered why he even chose to go through with it. The bone finished regenerating but that did nothing to even numb the pain that Brian was going through in this process of using his new arm to contain Saturn's essence. I did the best I could to calm him down while Annabeth just simply covered her ears and tried her best not to hear the screams.

It gave somewhat of a reprieve when the blood was coming over the bone but picked up again when veins and nerves were growing on his arm and hand. That was the quickest part and the only things that were nearly as quick was the rebirth of the muscle and cartilage in his arm. It finally ended when skin came over but it was black and red with fingernails that were replaced by black claws. I looked at the finished project just before a blast of purple light solidified that this was the real deal and not just some fake the gods could take away at any time.

For a few moments, Brian could think of nothing but the pain even when I recognized that it had long since passed. But when he didn't he was changed forevermore by it's existence on his body.


	36. Gabriel: Parting Ways With Brian

**Gabriel: Parting ways with Brian and returning to Camp**

Brian recovered at a relatively impressive pace and was on his feet before long. That was fine with me because I had seen him in so much more pain than I had ever seen in my entire life and practically had a heart attack right there. The creepy thing about his recovery was how he would play with his arm as though he were making sure it wasn't its own creature. To be honest, I would not have cared if it was just as long as Brian was alive and almost completely well again for the hard part of our journey: saying goodbye.

I had known Brian for the better portion of a decade and now it was time to make the goodbye that told you that you may never see the person in question again. Brian had a culture to restore and I had a camp of demigods to return to before our own war was waged with Prometheus. "How does that thing feel to you Brian, weird?" I asked. He chuckled and said that it was different from having the arm that Hyperion had bitten in the form of a snake.

"What will you do with the body of Allie? She betrayed Saturn's Land yes but she made amends for it in the end through her sacrifice," Annabeth asked. "I'll give her a proper Roman funeral and go around doing that with the other corpses in Saturn's Land. Assuming there's anything left for a funeral for those thousands of corpses that is," Brian answered.

"I wish we didn't have to go our separate ways, I really enjoy the conversations we have together," Annabeth said. That reminded me of one they had where Brian made fun of himself and his missing arm to her amusement. He even went as far as to use his stump as a puppet and fake having it talk to reply to her laughter. "Have you considered taking on ventriloquism?" she had asked.

I knew he had and he nodded upon her asking him that question, showing his honesty in that aspect. "But I left it after I became Supreme Archbishop of Saturn's Land," he added. She seemed a little saddened by that and asked if there were a whole lot of responsibilities but that's beside the point. Presently, she was asking Brian if he wanted to keep the donkey and a horse for himself so that he could survive the wait for the rest of his people.

Previously, we had found the Horn of Beowulf the Great and had used it. If there were any survivors, it would not be longer than a few days before they started to trickle in. "What will you do with Allie's body?" Annabeth asked. "Give it a proper funeral as she deserves for her final sacrifice in life," Brian answered.

"You are a very benevolent man Brian, that's a rare characteristic these days. Especially here in America if you get my meaning," she said with a smile. Brian laughed but it was short and somewhat dry but I did find it funny myself. He started immediately on preparing a funeral for her and I had to admit that he did a fine job setting up a pyre from wood and bits of rocks.

"She will have a request for a peaceful afterlife put in for her. It's the least I can give her for the goodness that she intended to do. Most people betray their homelands and clan out of greed, selfishness, ambition, or all of them but she did it out of love," he explained. I nodded and helped him light it on fire with a lightning bolt created by the Sky Sword when he was ready and he thanked me for that.

"And now my old friend, we must part ways for at least this moment," I said. "We have already parted ways once and that one time makes it hard for me to realize we're doing it again," Brian said. "It's hard on me too buddy but at some point, there comes a time when we must forsake what we want for what is right. No it's not always fair but who said life is always fair, right?" I replied.

Brian nodded in agreement and rose his new left hand to me for a final handshake. I laughed, getting the picture, and shook his hand with my golden left hand the way soldiers in the army do. "Goodbye Gabriel, son of Kronos, I owe you one," Brian said while our hands remained clasped. "Don't worry, it was a blast and that is good enough for this demigod," I said and we both knew that was true.

"Oh Gabriel, if you happen to become a god I will make sure to dedicate at least one temple to you when we get a safe location. You have been a good friend and I'd hate to lose you forever," Brian told me. "I don't blame you bud but don't worry, I'm gambling that we'll see each other before too long," I said back. As I said that I watched as his black skin shined against the sun and I knew that it would be time to go back to Camp soon.

"Gabriel, your horse is ready whenever you are," Annabeth told me. "Hey Brian, one more thing before I forget. Keep this, you may need it along the way to that safe haven you seek," I told him. After that I fished a coin out of my pocket and told him its properties.

"But this is your lucky coin, I can't take this. What about those old superstitions about bad luck when you give your talisman to someone else?" Brian asked. "I assure you that compared to where you may be going, those will be just Mother Goose stories," I answered. "Good comparison," Annabeth said.

"Gabriel, can I have a word with you in private before you go?" Brian asked. I nodded and told Annabeth to simply wait for my return from the "private word" with Brian. When we were far enough away from Annabeth, Brian surprised me with what he said next. "Remember when I met Nadine?" he asked.

I nodded and it was true, I did remember that day very well. "On that day… I don't know how to say this but I guess we fell in love with one another. She told me she would not leave you though and said that you were a very tortured soul. Those twins of hers that you thought were yours… they were actually mine," he said.

How was that possible because I distinctly remembered bonking Nadine before I left her. I even asked him how it was possible and he said that according to her, she had used pills on me in case I ever left her. "She told me she only wanted my offspring and had me pray to the gods that you be told they were yours instead," Brian added. I didn't know how to take that any way except the way that I could.

"When did you impregnate her?" I asked. "A day or two after you left by Hera's order. Please, do not feel anger for her, if anyone you should be mad at me for hiding it from you. She loved you too but it was a love more like that between friends than between wife and husband," Brian answered.

"I am not angry at her or you Brian, you were only doing what you had to comfort her," I told him. It was true, I felt no anger at him but rage at Hera for making me desert Nadine and forcing them to this. Brian could tell probably from how my face looked and said no more besides goodbye. "You're my best friend Brian and you always will be; from here on, just do what you feel is right even if it's not what's necessary," I said then Annabeth and I left through ruins of Saturn's Land for good.


	37. Annabeth: Talking About Brian

**Annabeth: Talking to Gabriel about Brian**

The way Brian looked after we began leaving the ruins of Saturn's Land behind us and following the dirt road back to civilization had me on edge. At first, we never spoke although we probably both had many thoughts racing through our minds. Mine were on how to explain my adventure to Percy and reluctantly let him see my deep disappointment. I had gone seeking information on how the people of Saturn's Land built their facilities but I left only with info on how it was destroyed and why.

For me, bittersweet was how you could describe this victory in my opinion and probably in Gabriel's as well. Gabriel's head was sloped down forward and I could see that he was not exactly in the talking mood. But when push comes to shove, sometimes you have to force it out of someone. Especially when you're surprise to see their eyes release a few tears just hours after leaving.

"What's wrong, do you want to talk?" I asked. At first, it seemed as if he would or if he even could for that matter. Then he wiped away his tears and calmed himself long enough to tell me what was troubling him. When I thought it was just the fact that he was leaving Brian to fend for himself once again, I soon realized that was the least of it.

"Brian dragged me away from you to tell me that I had been deceived by the gods on Nadine. Deceived so that I wouldn't feel even worse about Hera forcing me to leave her than I already did," Gabriel began. I was utterly shocked that he would say something like that but I knew it was necessary to get him to continue. "When I found out she was pregnant with twins, I was told that I was the father but that was far from the truth: Brian was the father, not me," he said.

"How did that happen?" I asked. "From what Brian has confessed to me, he and Nadine fell in love when I first introduced them to one another during the early days of my service to Hera. Though she and I made love, she had used the pill and had instead gotten Brian's seed into her body just a day or so after I reluctantly left to return to Hera's service," he answered. "So who told you that you were the father and he wasn't?" I inquired.

"She did and I had others confirm it to me, others who would know of such things. But I never realized that Hera would bring about her death through her actions against me and allowing me to be mislead by the deception," he explained. "I am so sorry Gabriel, I wish there was something I could do besides say that I do kind of hate Hera," I said. Although I had given up my feud with her when she swore to give up her grudge, I still did hate her for the way she treated members of her own family.

I guess you could say I had never quite gotten over the fact that she was the one who threw the poor Hephaestus down to Earth when he was just an infant. Now this was more than enough to enrage me and make me wish to yell at the goddess that she was a bitch. She was the goddess of marriage yet she had allowed this adultery against her own half-brother only to kill her and her children whilst she was giving birth to them later. I wondered why Zeus selected her to be his wife when she treated people this way, especially if they were related to her or her immediate family.

"Ever since that day when she forced me to abandon the only source of peace and comfort I had known until Eos and I fell for each other, I have dreamed of the day when I will destroy Prometheus and become a god because then I would be more than powerful enough to make Hera pay for what she did with no harm to myself. Zeus forgive me for this desire to attack your wife but she _did _take away the first bit of personal peace that I had ever known," he said. "Well, Brian is a leader now and so are you plus you two are still friends, am I right?" I asked. He nodded yes and I told him that he should not worry about Brian or his ex-wife for that matter.

"I am not angry at either of them but I am enraged at Hera for having brought us to this. Still, I think if it weren't for her you and I would not be having this conversation and probably would not have even met," he said. I giggled and I said that I was glad to have a mortal uncle, even going as far as to call him the best family member that I had ever had in my life. "Let's change the subject now to something a little happier although I'm not done talking about Brian," he requested.

"Okay, you want to know about the time Brian and I took a little endeavor to a nearby restaurant when we had not even begun to reach the mountains?" I asked. He smiled and said that he would love to hear how they had pulled that off without himself or Allie knowing. "Well, as you may know, Brian had this way of making himself and those immediately beside him invisible for a few moments. He used that long enough for us to get out of your sight and then we walked to a nearby restaurant and ordered quite the feast for ourselves," I answered.

"Now that's not so bad although I think I might have been forced to confessing the time Brian and I tried to steal a golden apple from Hera's garden. The nymphs fell for Brian's charm just like that while I went to get one but that accursed dragon of hers kept me from even getting close," he said with a smile. "Let me guess, the charm failed as soon as the nymphs heard the roar of the dragon," I said. He nodded and added that Zeus was madder than hell although he decided to let us off the hook that time.

"What of Brian's fate right now? Will he know for sure if anyone besides himself survived the destruction of his city?" I asked. "Yeah, that horn can be heard the world over by those from Saturn's Land and/or are relations to Saturn in some way. If there is anyone besides him, they will have heard the call and will know to come to Saturn's Land before he leaves," Gabriel said.

"Will it be a dangerous journey to this new location?" I asked, curious about the way Brian's destiny was going to be shaped. "Most likely but the only way to know that for sure is to be a god or goddess and know what the Fates have foretold for a person," Gabriel said, immediately satisfying my worries about Brian. "He mentioned something about having had to say goodbye before when we talked alone, do you know what he means by that?" I inquired.

"The first time we had to part, it was for missions that our trainer gave us in order to enhance our skills beyond the training arena on Olympus. After that there were two more, one in the same manner as before and the third when we completed our training to the limit. This is the fourth time that we have had to say goodbye and will probably be the worst for both of us," he explained. "At least you have the chance of seeing each other again in some small way: Iris messages if he's still around to give them after his," I said.

"Brian is a good friend and I will miss him dearly like I would a brother I have come to know. Tell you the truth, he's been more of a brother to me in just the few years we've known each other than the Big Three have been in my entire life. The only one who comes close to Chiron and you know how shaky that can be," he replied. Satisfied that I had cheered him up, I nodded and ended the conversation by thanking him for this wonderful conversation that we had had.


	38. Thalia: Artemis' New Mission For Us

**Thalia: Artemis has a new mission for the recovered Hunters and me**

For the past two or three weeks, my Hunters had been nursing their pride from that fateful match with Gabriel. I had already recovered three times over but they had not been as quick until now. Now, Artemis was appearing to me in a vision during the darkest hours of the night and she looked hurried. "My lady, what is it that you request of us in these late hours and in our sleep?" I asked.

"I have a new assignment for you, one that will benefit Camp Half-Blood in this fight against Prometheus' regime. It will be dangerous but the rewards will be more than enough for the other Hunters to recover their pride from the fight against Gabriel," she explained. "I'm listening," I said. Yes, I was listening because there was nothing else to do in my sleep besides that right at that minute.

"I wish for you all to fan out and see if you can find the hideout of Prometheus. It will be a great thing for Gabriel to know and any additional information will be most useful in your fight against him," Artemis explained. "But how can we do something like that when everybody else has failed?" I asked. "You're Hunters of Artemis, you're trained to do these things and besides, it will probably have some glory in it for you all," Artemis answered.

"Yeah, glory in slaying who knows how many skeleton soldiers and _maybe _a few really powerful monsters here or there," I replied. "I assure you there will be enough action for the Hunters of Artemis to redeem themselves. Phoebe would be quick to pounce on this opportunity if she were in your place," Artemis said. That was cold, I knew it and to explain briefly Artemis and I were not exactly on the best of terms right now considering that her desire was only to have me be a Hunter until the time of the prophecy passed.

I had wanted to stay in service longer and Artemis agreed until I saw Gabriel defeat the Hunters with ease. That day gave Artemis a sense of mistrust in my leadership when it was Phoebe who had made the first shot. I even told Artemis that in my report and now I have gotten the firm suspicion that she suspected I was bad for not preventing Phoebe from starting a confrontation. Either that or it was because in spite of my efforts, I let a man beat down our group and I was a bad example of Artemis' idea of female superiority.

Oh well, I thought about all that and I began to wonder if in different ways women and men were equal and Artemis was just being a bitch. I'm sorry but I guess I am kind of a maverick to the ways of the goddess. One of my things about her ways was that men weren't all bad, just that some were and I have evidence to back that up. But when you're dealing with a goddess that's thousands of years old, you might as be talking to a steel wall for I could help it.

At any rate, I kept her word in mind and talked to Annabeth the following morning about her mission in case there was anything useful. "For one thing, Hyperion was the one behind all while trapped in the form of a cobra (the gods let him escape with some of his power in exchange for his freedom from the tree then Gabriel took the rest to reduce him to such a small form). Epimetheus helped him so I guess that Prometheus knew about it too, which seemed reasonable even to Gabriel," she began. "What's happened to Epimetheus if Hyperion is dead and this Saturn's Land has been destroyed?" I asked.

"That's not the only thing we found when we got there," Annabeth answered. She went into every last detail about the mission except for a few she said Gabriel wanted confidential, between her and him. When I found out about Brian containing the essence of Saturn in exchange for a regenerated arm, I kind of felt sorry for the boy. She even told me that before leaving, Epimetheus had been killed by Saturn for them to see and Hyperion had used his power to regenerate back into the god of light that he had once been.

This all took place after she returned from her mission with Gabriel and I had to wait another two days before I could take off for the mission. Overall, I got that Hyperion and Epimetheus were both dead in their attempt to assassinate Saturn, Saturn himself was confined to the regenerated arm of one of his own children, and we had scored a decisive victory in spite of Allie's treacherous part in it. When I told Phoebe about the new mission, she was overjoyed just as Artemis had predicted to me during the dead of night. "Why don't we go now?" she asked.

"Because I need as much information from Annabeth and/or form Gabriel about their mission as I can get. Better for us to have a start on the hunt for Prometheus than just to blunder on and miss what could be a potential clue," I answered. "You are always so nervous to start these hunts, why is that?" she inquired. "I'm not nervous, I'm alert for something to come that will lead to a more decisive conclusion in the hunting of the subject in question," I told her.

Most of the Hunters overhearing the conversation agreed on that matter and it was brought to a swift conclusion. "See what I mean? You blundered and it cost you the argument whereas I carefully researched my facts and used them to verbally cut you down," I told her. Hey, just because I'm a daughter of Zeus doesn't mean I know everything and am wiser than Athena for crying out loud!

I was glad that Chiron approved of us leaving and he had somewhat of an idea where Prometheus may be. "The Rocky Mountains have been an epicenter for the powers of both the Olympians and the Titans. Continue forward from here and you go into the domain of the Titans and vice versa. The mountains that Prometheus had been chained to were once that same way so I believe that the Caucasus mountains he was contained in have probably moved with the rest of us," Chiron explained.

"That will be a good starting place even if he isn't there, it will be best to try that. My only worry is if the Rockies would be big enough to support an army that could assault Camp Half-Blood," I said. "If he spread them over the entire mountain range that is more than likely but he will probably want his soldiers closer to him rather than spread thinly across an entire mountain range," Chiron agreed. "Then why search for the Rocky Mountains with that being said?" Phoebe asked.

"Because with Prometheus you never know, it's impossible to predict someone who already knows what's destined to happen up to centuries before it does. He probably foresaw this very conversation if his power to see the future extends to cover many people," I answered. Chiron nodded in agreement and suggested that I move with the information that Annabeth provided when she returned the next day. After that we were off and I never realized how soon we would be returning to camp for the battle against the Titan Prometheus. We would be back very soon indeed and we would be ready for it all or so I told myself when our expedition began.


	39. Percy: Nico' Revival & Annabeth's Return

**Percy: Gabriel and Annabeth's return to Camp and Nico's return to consciousness**

The first bit of good news on my part is almost too good to be true. Just hours before Gabriel and Annabeth returned, Nico returned to consciousness. I was coming to check on him as I usually did after one of the nurses came down to maintain the cabin for him. During my visit, he suddenly began to move and even groan in pain although he had yet to fully awaken.

I called everyone I could reach over to the cabin to see Nico's awakening from the sleep he fell into after helping in the assault on Mount Orthys. "Hey Nico, you're almost there! Come back to us, come on buddy!" I was begging. He finally came through and it was indeed worthy of celebration on top of Gabriel and Annabeth's victorious return.

"Hey Chiron, let's prepare a feast for them with all the calories they'll need after their journeys. Nico will especially need it coming back from a two-week coma," Connor Stoll of the Hermes cabin suggested. "Yeah, why doesn't anybody listen to me or my brother when we make these cool suggestions?" his brother Travis asked. Then the horn blew that signaled the return of Annabeth and Gabriel, a sound that washed all worry out of me for any of my friends.

I ran ahead of everybody to be the first to greet them when they came through the gate. Gabriel shook my hand whereas Annabeth took it and kissed it before continuing through the line in the parade. "Hey, they have returned victorious; this calls for a celebration double time!" Clarisse of the Ares cabin shouted. For once, I agreed with her and I was not thinking she had barely half a brain like her father still does.

Chiron called everyone to the dining pavilion and we knew that he had had something planned ever since the news came that Annabeth and Gabriel would be returning soon. Normally, it was never allowed that members of different cabins sat with each other but because Gabriel had won a unofficial but real victory for us tonight was an exception. I sat with Annabeth along with Gabriel and Nico while Chiron stood in the background with Mr. D, possibly talking about things that were transpiring on Mount Olympus. These days, it was quite typical to see the two of them talking alone after camp hours and it was a shame that nobody thought to ask about what they were talking about before I asked what they were talking about.

"Perseus Jackson, how dare you ask us to reveal confidential information to you!" Chiron shouted. "Yeah Peter Johnson, leave us be," Mr. D said, doing that irritatingly deliberate routine of forgetting my name. "Thank you both for your time although I think Gabriel is not going to be too happy when he hears about this," I said. That was meant to get them scared but surprisingly, it did not work at all this time or if it did they certainly did not show it.

I went back to sit down with my friends and had an awesome time at it. Who would have thought that being under the vigilance for war could have its fun side to it huh? But Annabeth's hand kept colliding over mine and I knew she was trying to ask for something. I turned to her and asked what it was that she wanted to request of me and I was about ready to do anything considering I had not seen her in four days and it felt like four years.

"Let's go to your cabin after the final festivities have been played out. I have an excellent surprise waiting for you at the end of it all," she said with a smile. Gabriel overheard her and laughed briefly because to my shock, he already knew what she meant. "When you two are at your cabin tonight, you'll find out what luck is waiting for you," he replied.

Chiron had prepared a firework celebration at the Firework Cliffs, overlooking Long Island Sound. Gabriel was alone at the far edge of the cliff whereas Annabeth and I were in the best view of the fireworks as he had arranged for us. "You two deserve it, especially after the part Annabeth played at Saturn's Land," he explained. "Thank you Gabriel, you have been a great uncle to us both if not to us all," Annabeth told him.

"Hey, I still don't like Uncle Gabe and keep in mind that I still feel like I haven't earned the title in the eyes of the Camp yet. Yes I have been making improvements by the ton while Chiron sat in the background but that doesn't change anything," he said. Annabeth's dress was the silliest thing of all since it was an old Greek toga that the Aphrodite children had started making to look prettier. "She's a fine girl when she's not worried about preparing for war, don't ever forget that Percy and don't ever let her go if you truly love her," he said.

"Because if she truly loves me, she won't want to let go of me either?" I asked. "You may not be as wise as your father or any of the other gods on Olympus but you do learn quickly. Soon enough, you'll be one of the wisest demigods to live on the Earth besides Annabeth and Malcolm," Gabriel answered. The firework display was a short but sweet one after we had that discussion although that was not the best part of that night.

At last, after all the celebration had been carried out and our feet could barely carry us back to any cabin, let alone our own, Annabeth and I headed for my cabin. "Besides how Malcolm will be alone tonight, I don't feel bad about what I will do next so don't make me feel bad," Annabeth told me. I assured her that I never try to do that at all and she kissed me on the forehead before leading us in. Then she turned me around and took a few steps back before doing something I'd never thought she'd do.

She unpinned her toga and let it fall to the floor, exposing her naked body to me. For a few moments, I just stood there and looked in awe at her wonderful physique. Then after those moments, "Well Seaweed Brain, are you going to come get some or not?" So this was what Gabriel was hinting at and this was what she had intended to give me after the celebration had been carried out to its fullest.

I felt the lust in me so much that I was clumsy at the job of removing my own clothes, even just taking off my shirt. Meanwhile, Annabeth had gone onto my bed and spread her legs across before telling me that she would be waiting when I finally arrived. I laughed to myself briefly and it was not just because of her saying that to me. Tell you the truth, I was _really _scared that Athena might see us and try to do something about it like punish Annabeth or transform me into some sort of monster.

No assurance from my father would overcome the doubt and insecurity I felt at the idea of making love to Annabeth. That is initially but after those initial moments of about five minutes or so, I was no longer insecure but ready for action and any action at any moment. I knew that there was some action waiting for me on my bed and I was quick to go there but slow to come around and get started. "Take your time, I'm just as scared if not more scared than you are," she said, placing a hand on my cheek while one of mine had found its way to her thigh. Then slowly, I slid down until I was laying on top of her and used my free hand to stump out the candle before we were at last united in the flesh.

To Be Concluded...


	40. RotT: HoT Pt1:Title & Table of Contents

Revenge of the Titans

The Heart of Tartarus

Part I

By

Christopher Cleveland

**Table of Contents**

**Nico: Explaining what I saw while in the coma and afterward**

**Thalia: Some luck in my new mission and some surprise with it**

**Gabriel: My departure from Camp to find clues about my past**

**Annabeth: Preparing for war with Percy in the strangest way ever**

**Gabriel: An unexpected but massive blast from the past**

**Percy: Finding help in the war against Prometheus**

**Annabeth: The first assault on the Camp begins and my first duel**

**Nico: Using some undead reinforcements borrowed from my awesome Dad for the fight**

**Thalia: Ending the first assault and the brief peace that followed afterwards**

**Percy: The second assault on Camp Half-Blood begins after I return**

**Thalia: The end of the second assault and Gabriel's triumphant return to Camp**

**Percy: Nico and I witness Annabeth's capture by Prometheus and Gabriel's departure**


	41. Nico: Explaining My Coma Visions

**Nico: Explaining what I saw while in the coma and afterward**

Let me tell you, returning to consciousness after two weeks in a coma protected by Hypnos was not a wonderful experience. Yes, I had Percy there to help me wake up as well as other voices joining in but it was still a painful transition. Luckily, during my time in the coma, I had had visions that I supposed would relate to this fight against Prometheus. After waking up and getting back on my feet for a day or two, I told Percy to have Chiron calling a meeting strictly between the Cabin leaders.

"If what I explain is related to what's going on right now, we may be in for a surprise in the next few days or so. Gabriel will especially need to know this so have Chiron request his presence in this," I explained to him. Percy did as I instructed and soon, a meeting was underway about what I had seen in my visions. Gabriel was there in full battle armor and I knew this was probably one of if not the last meeting that we would have, as Gabriel was not the only one in battle armor.

In fact, I was the only one wearing no battle armor at that meeting until I requested that a suit be made for me. "Nico, it's good to have you back and are you sure you want to have this meeting now? We could postpone it until you're dressed in your armor and have had something to eat," Chiron asked. I shook my head no and said that if I told it any later then I might as well not remember what I saw while I was in that trance at all.

"So Nico, what have you to tell us that may concern the war?" Chiron inquired. I was a little thrown off by the tone of voice he used at first but I continued when Gabriel sneered at him then insisted I continue. "I had several visions while I was knocked out so I will only tell the ones that were real clear and very serious," I said. It was true, there were a whole bunch of visions I could recall but almost none of them except a few were serious.

"The first serious vision occurred after I had been knocked out and foretold of Ouranos' death by Gabriel's blade. Did that come to pass?" I asked. "It did and I have obtained the Sky Sword out of it," Gabriel answered. Nico smiled and was glad to see that his friend had gone through with the mission because then they wouldn't be here talking right now.

"The next one happened shortly after the vision of Ouranos' death came to me. This one showed me some cabins on fire at Camp Half-Blood and demigods running all over the place to take positions for a battle that was destroying the camp. As far as I'm concerned that one has yet to happen but it still could with a little Titan help," I explained. "This vision tells me that I was right to have us prepare for war; it sounds to me like what the Camp would have been like if I never came here and the Titans caught you off guard," Gabriel said.

"Yes he's right but the next vision is one I don't really understand. It has some sort of dragon-bird mix carrying a woman off into a pit beneath the earth and a man in armor following them. Rope was tied to his leg that glowed blue and he jumped after the damsel as well as the monster carrying her off," I explained. "Is that the most vivid of them all?" Percy asked.

I nodded and said that to this day, I could not understand who the man or the woman was. Only that the monster carrying off the woman meant trouble for us in the future. "I had another one after that: one where an entire army of Grecian warriors came charging down a hill to possibly their deaths. The only thing was that I could read no signs of life in these warriors so my guess is that my power to bring up souls will have to be put to work again soon," I explained.

"But it's too soon after your greatest work, you still haven't fully recovered from the effects of raising that army that attacked Mount Orthys. You would surely die if you were to do it again too soon, I mean, you are lucky to be even alive after that last endeavor," Annabeth said. I assured her that due to the vagueness of it, I was not sure if it would be soon or if it would be later.

"Besides, I can always ask my father for permission to do it and that would not take any power out of me. Gabriel might know this army of Grecian warriors well enough to maybe even hand them over to Hades so that I could do it with his permission," I explained. "It's true, a long time ago I had been leased ten thousand Spartan souls by Ares since he never used them. When I found use for them more quickly than he ever could, he allowed me to keep them and now it seems to me that Hades will have to take ownership of the army," Gabriel admitted.

"The transfer won't be easy but one that is necessary if we are to surprise Prometheus should he attack this camp," I agreed. "He will try to surprise us but he will find that the only way to get any massive army into camp by land is to bring them to the front entrance. If he wants to send a smaller raiding party perhaps, then he will have to divide his men and send a battalion around to our flank where we can easily annihilate them," Annabeth added. "Yes, I don't know if this all relates to any of these visions but the last one might be of consequence to Gabriel," I said.

"Tell us or tell me at least if you think only I should hear this," Gabriel said. I sighed, deciding whether or not just to tell him in private. But I figured that if I had gone and told everyone else the other visions then I might as well tell them what the last one was. "The last real vision I had before I woke up showed a woman in a bed begging for Gabe to help her and then it flashes to a picture of this little girl being carried off by a large, black shape on an equally large horse," I explained.

I even added that the equestrian had scooped up the girl from the sea and from several mouthfuls of dangerous creatures in the water. "This sounds a lot like the story of how my cousin, Little Mary, died besides the horseman scooping her up and saving her. I don't know if that happened with my sister but you had to understand that I was young and knew nothing about comas or unconsciousness. She could have very easily have been alive, a heat-stroke waiting to happen since she was not a demigod and could not endure such pains like we can and killed when I threw her into the water," Gabriel said.

"Plus if she were still alive, you would have been saving her days if not weeks more of incredible physical pain. You were only doing what made sense to you although it went against your conscience," Annabeth said. Gabriel nodded and said nothing more about _that_ part of his life but he did say he had experienced a similar vision to my own. "It was just a few hours ago when I was sleeping and it's recurred before," he added.

"Do explain further as it may help me unravel this mystery," I requested. Any clue as to what my visions meant and in any similar dreams in anyone else was helpful. Especially if that someone else just so happened to be Gabriel or Percy at the very least. "The details of a girl being saved had a similar vividness about them besides the fact that I heard the girl cry for help just before both she and the 'horseman' both disappeared.

"However, I don't think there was a horseman that saved her. I think it was more like a god floating on air that had fetched her and then taken her under his armpit before returning to wherever he came from," Gabriel explained. "Anything else besides that in the vision that you saw?" I asked. "Just her crying for me to help her-to save her to be more precise- from the god taking her away," Gabriel answered.

"Maybe it was meant more for you than it was for me considering that it was deeper for and had more detail than when I had it. I don't know much in the way of visions and dreams when compared to the Oracle but I do have my suspicions about this one," I told him. "Then perhaps Rachel can confirm the dreams for you both, she is the Oracle after all," Annabeth said. "It's worth a shot and it's certainly a lot better than attempting to go at it blind," Percy agreed.  
Chiron authorized a temporary recess in the meeting while Gabriel and I went down to the Oracle and asked for an explanation of the visions we had received. Heading over to the attic of the Big Cabin, we didn't know until it was too late that we were in for a surprise. Gabriel was the first to go in and to go see the Oracle while I followed closely behind him, as it was his vision more than mine was although I also had it. "Hello Nico, how have you been?" Rachel asked.

"I have been just fine and you?" I answered. She said that she was good and was glad that she had a chance to see Gabriel again. "Glad to see you too but we come with a favor to ask you," Gabriel replied to her. "Ask and _hope _that I can find the answer to your question," Rachel said

"Nico and I have both had a vision to which, I am clearer to. In it, there was this girl floating in water and dangerous creatures were coming to consume her from below. Then something that seemed like a wraith or a god floating on air came in and fetched her just in the nick of time," Gabriel explained. "You both have had this vision?" she asked.

"Yes and as he told you, his is more clear and I am sure it was meant for him more than me," I answered. "I'll see what I can do, lately the Oracle's spirit has been kind of silent for some odd reason," she said. "I don't need a prophecy, just to use her power to find the answer to this dream," Gabriel assured her. After that Rachel closed her eyes, placed the index and middle fingers of each hand against each side of her forehead, and tried to tap into the spirit of the Oracle within her.

For several minutes, nothing happened besides her constant humming that was either part of the ritual or had unconsciously came up from her throat anyway. Then something I recognized (though Gabriel somehow did since he held me back) began to happen to her. She began to shake and spasm out of control until at last, when her eyes opened, she seemed possessed by some other deity and at first I thought it was the Oracle. "Turn back from this path, Gabriel Johnson!" a foreign voice said.

Then it added that the dangers of following the vision were greater than either of us knew. "Well, from that comment, I can guess that it wasn't you who gave us the vision. Was it Hera?" Gabriel asked. "No, it was not I but I cannot tell you who it was," Hera answered through Rachel.

"You know this sort of thing when it happens?" I asked. "Yes, sometimes the gods will possess those that serve them and aren't demigods in order to more quickly deliver a message to a demigod if necessary. It's seldom used even with me but when it is, it's either with people who can already see visions or those who are dead," he answered. "You remember the last time I used this power don't you?" Hera asked.

"Yeah, last time you used this power was to prevent Thanatos from killing me. That conversation using dead bodies was weird as hell but definitely not as weird as this," Gabriel answered. I decided it was not something for me to concern myself with and let it continue. "Retreat now, keep going with your war effort, and forget this vision that you have been told," Hera said.

"I will not for there may be a clue to victory over this war hidden in the vision. Maybe even several clues that we would miss when trying to go at it any other way," Gabriel replied. "It is a vision best left untouched, please-" Hera began before Gabriel interrupted her. "If it's something related to my cousin, you would do good to stay out of my way," Gabriel said.

Hera's hold over Rachel left and she was back to her normal self with surprisingly no knowledge of the conversation she had been used for transpiration. "Believe me, you're better off not knowing what had been said for it concerns me more than it concerns you or Nico really," Gabriel told her. "That's comforting, well, I hope you get it all sorted out but I really wish it had been a prophecy rather than some goddess possessing my mind and then erasing my memory of the conversation that happened," Rachel said. "How did you know your memory was erased?" I asked, surprised.

"Well, there's this big space of blackness between when I tried to connect with the spirit of the Oracle and now. Hey Gabe, you're the expert on deities, do you know how or why that would happen?" Rachel inquired. "Well it's actually quite simple: it's a question of confidentiality on the part of the god possessing you. It's a rarely used power because it's dangerous and can sometimes kill those in their possession if they're not already dead," Gabriel explained.

"Better to know nothing than to be dead for knowing, I guess. Good to see you again Gabe and you, Nico," she said. "Yeah good seeing you too, hope nothing else that's weird happens to you now," I teased. "Let us know if the Oracle randomly tells you anything or not, it would be good to be informed of what lies ahead," Gabriel said.

Rachel nodded and wished us goodbye before we headed back out the door and to the rest of Camp. The war formations were good, the walls were lined with every Grecian weapon you could think of from pots of molten metal to crossbows the size of a cannon that shot out javelin-sized arrows. Actually, they were at least four times the size of javelins with a deadliness to match. "These weapons serve only one purpose: to destroy the enemies of the gods," Gabriel said.

He carried a certain weight about those words as though they were poison he needed to spit out before he swallowed it. I even said it aloud to him and his answer to that comment surprised me. "Whenever _all _the gods are concerned, a weight falls on me for two reasons: first, it may mean the end of my love Eos if I fail and second, the fact that Hera has put me through so much misery that it is only logical to seek some form of justice or revenge," he explained. "How much do you love Eos and hate Hera?" I asked. He looked at me as though he wanted to kill me and for a little bit, I thought he was initially. Then he answered, "Did you really have to ask that question of me at this moment?" I replied to that by shaking my head and asking if we should proceed to which he agreed. We finished checking the weapons and soon went our separate ways with me heading back to the Underworld and him continuing the war efforts at Camp Half-Blood.


	42. Thalia: Some Luck In My New Mission

**Thalia: Some luck in my new mission and some surprise with it**

Riding with the Hunters of Artemis, I had already reached the La Sal Mountains where Prometheus was supposed to have hidden himself. But so far, neither myself nor any of my Hunters found any sign that Prometheus was even there. Then something happened and the ground around me began to fade away as I was suddenly levitated up to the tallest mountain in the range. There, I found him waiting for me: Prometheus had been expecting me from the way he greeted me, adding that it was good to see me again.

"My lord, we found her alongside Mount Haystack and believe there may be more of her kind around there," a soldier said. "Good work Commander, leave us now. Find her companions and bring them to me alive if possible," Prometheus ordered, the Black Sword of the Night hanging at his belt. "So glad you could see my hideout for it will make no difference what you do at Camp to prepare for my arrival," he began.

"What do you mean Prometheus?" I asked. "You see, you only have at most two thousand demigods if I recall correctly. My army numbers a hundred times as many and will not even need to surround Camp Half-Blood to overwhelm it," he answered. "We don't plan to achieve victory through strength of arms but through strength of minds," I told him and that had to be true.

I was already aware that his forces would greatly outnumber ours and Gabriel had made sure to hammer that into our heads. However, two hundred thousand (in a moment I was about to see precisely that meaning preparing for battle) was far too overwhelming for me to not be surprised. "How did you manage to rake up so many so quickly?" I asked.

"For one thing, the deity of Tartarus was more than willing to raise enough dead to aid me. And for another thing, I have received the Blessing of the Night that works almost like the way the Hydra does. Cut off a head on one of my soldiers and the severed body shall regenerate its head while the severed head grows a new body. The same principal applies no matter what part you cut of one solider whether it be an arm or a leg," he explained.

"Then that must mean the same flaw applies as well. Apply fire to the wounded area and the soldier cannot regenerate what it lost. Or just blow them to bits with fire, which usually has never been an option," I inquired. "Very good, you have already figured out the weakness of this army but what difference does it make?" he mocked. "You think we'll still be slaughtered even if I know how to defeat them but we have the demigod son of Kronos on our side," I assured him.

"Oh I know you have that _boy _on your side. If only he were aware of what he could be. You know, he could have already been more powerful a Titan than even his father," Prometheus replied. I had no comment or question so he continued to elaborate what he said.

"When Kronos gave his mark, he was trying to make him immortal so that he could destroy Zeus and take what was his by right. Kronos knew he was already fated to fail again as Gabriel's siblings and Olympian family would always be powerful enough to crush us rebel Titans. So he tried to give Gabriel a chance to act as an extension of the revenge of the Titans and bring our glory back to us and more," he explained, to which I was not surprised. "Mark, what mark?" I asked.

"Oh, ask Annabeth to tell you about it for only she knows of the mark when immortals are excluded," Prometheus answered. "I suppose you'll be counting on me doing that in order to disassemble the unity of the Camp. It won't work and even you know that deep down as you have the ability of foresight," I snapped. "I don't care for the unity of the Camp; tell you the truth, I _hope _they fight as one when I arrive so I can destroy them all at once," Prometheus calmly replied.

That made me shutter in my mind and he smiled, indicating he had somehow noticed that. "I actually have a mind to let you go right now and I have even send a telepathic message to cancel the search for your friends. Do nothing to change my mind in the next few moments and you will be spared. And if you need knowledge of what I mean, do not speak when I send this little message to him through you," he said.

"I guess I can fulfill a request meant for Gabriel but I don't expect Chiron will like that too much," I told him. "The goddess you serve understands that you are under _my _thumb and will have to cooperate in order to escape this place. Do not worry for Chiron knowing that Artemis is not to be worried about," he replied. "Then I am ready to deliver your message," I said.

He smiled, chuckled to himself before finally saying what the message was. "Tell him that the vision he and Nico experienced were my doing. The meaning is simple: his cousin Little Mary lives as my captive in a palace that used to belong to Hyperion himself," he said to me. "I suppose there's a catch to this revelation too," I said.

He nodded and said that the catch was that she was guarded by Hyperion's forces, now under the command of Prometheus. "What's more is that years of torment have somewhat… enlightened her to the treachery of the Olympians," he added. I knew this was going to be very difficult for Gabriel to bite on but something in my heart told me he had to know. For almost six years, he had been forced to assume she was dead and although some small part of him believed she was still alive it was a relatively dormant part of his mind.

Especially when time passed by and he had been forced to focus on his service to Olympus more than on trying to find her. "Your friends are being teleported back to their camp and I will see to it that you have the same means back home. Gabriel will have quite the surprising chat when you talk to him on the Iris-message with the fountain I have provided you as well as the drachma in your left pocket," Prometheus said. Somehow, he knew about my lucky coin but something had me on edge.

Why the hell would he give us a fountain if we were the enemy? Did he want something with Gabriel? I asked the latter question and he was surprised I was even thinking about that. "Yes, I do have something a little personal to deal with him on: my brothers Atlas and Epimetheus are dead because of him," Prometheus said.

"I'll admit to you right now that I am the one who killed Atlas. As to who murdered Epimetheus, I have no clue. This is the truth and if you wish to avenge Atlas, kill me now," I confessed. "So selfless of you to just give yourself up but keep in mind that were it not for Gabriel, you would never have fought Atlas nor would you have killed him," he replied.

I had to admit he had a point there and he continued by saying his grudge still lied with Gabriel. "How many times can the fountain be used? I mean, for Iris-messages and all that," I asked. "Just once so make your chat with him long and meaningful," Prometheus answered.

"Thank you, Lord Prometheus. You have been wise, generous, and benevolent to the Hunters of Artemis," I said. Though I honestly believed I had had better hosts in my life, I had to admit that Prometheus impressed me with how respectful of Zeus' hospitality law he had been. Sadly, the fountain was not much when compared to previous fountains I had used.

Still, it was enough to deliver one Iris-message to Camp before disintegrating. Prometheus had been right about that much when he said it would only be good for one use. Truthfully, I had trouble deciding how I would tell Gabriel that his cousin was still alive when he had presumed her dead six years ago. Do I just blurt it out and let him sort out how to figure out if I was telling the truth or do I tell him everything?

I decided to be as clear and direct as I could be in telling him the truth about his cousin's continued existence. After making that painful decision, I recited the chant and told the Iris-message who I wished to be connected with. When an image of Gabriel appeared, he greeted me and told me he was glad to see me. "So have you found where Prometheus is holing up yet?" he asked.

"Actually, after two weeks on this mission, I have. And it's not the only thing I found," I answered. He asked to know more and I told him about how I had seen Prometheus' army and how they numbered two hundred thousand. "The most we can rally at a single time is around a hundredth of that number with weapons that make us look even bigger.

"I'm installing a mine field out at the front of the camp that will be controlled by remote for precisely this kind of situation," he said. I nodded and he apparently noticed I was hiding something by the look on my face. "Gabriel, you might not want to hear this even though it concerns the vision you and Nico had," I told him. "What is it, does Prometheus know about the vision?" Gabriel asked.

"He was the one who sent it to you with reasons you won't want to hear about," I answered. "Tell me," he ordered. With a sigh, I told him about his cousin and how Prometheus said she was being kept in Hyperion's old fortress. I reluctantly told him about how she was there under torment and had been ever since that day when he mistook her for dead and nearly fed her to the sharks.

"Then the gods have lied to me about her like I thought they had. For years, I assumed that the crunching sounds of the sharks' biting was of them eating my cousin but I was wrong. Prometheus simply used the Mist to prevent me from seeing her rescue and the Olympians knew about it although they didn't tell me. I wonder how many more of my 'memories' have been cases of the Mist being used to hide me from the truth," he said.

"Please Gabriel, we need you coolheaded and more so now than ever before. I fought you and I have seen what an incredible power your rage gives you. Please don't be so enraged as to rebel against the gods now," I begged. "I'm not _that _enraged at all of the gods but just one," he said.

I knew who he was talking about and I begged him not to go against her. "As I said before, I'm not so enraged as to rebel now. However, I am enraged enough to make sure she knows what pain she has put me through," he told me. "I hope that's all; I'm returning to Camp now that I've found his hideout but please keep out of trouble at least until I arrive," I asked. I never got to find out the answer to my desperate plea.


	43. Gabriel: Leaving Camp To Search My Past

**Gabriel: My departure from Camp to find someone from my past**

"Hera, you lied to me! You told me my cousin was dead but she lives in torment at Hyperion's former home! She lives you goddamn bitch!" I shouted, cursing at the statue of Hera in her Cabin. When the statue did not respond (I knew Hera would be using it to communicate with me if she wanted to), I shouted for Hera's name to get her attention.

I was so blinded by anger at that moment that just the right course of actions could trigger my rage. Sure enough, my anger was triggered when the statue started talking behind my back. "I warned you that following this vision would do you no good. I'm sorry I lied to you and I'm sorry for what I've done but I assure you that it was all done for a reason," she said.

Blinded by anger, I turned my sword on the statue at that point and demolished the entire upper half of it. The head of the statue fell and broke in two with one piece turning to powder but enough of a mouth on the other for her to continue using it if she wished. "You _will _pay for that, brother or not, in full someday!" she shouted before she went out. "No Hera, I will not pay for breaking a statue; you will pay for all the evil you have done to me someday," I told her.

Rage still consuming my heart, I smashed the last half of the marble head of the statue under my foot until it was also powder. The desecration of Hera's image had been completed and now, I could continue with my other work. "Let that be a small sample of my revenge for you to taste at this moment," I said more to myself than anybody else. Suddenly, my rage lifted over me and I saw that Annabeth was looking at me like she had seen a ghost.

Considering what I had done, she might as well have been seeing a ghost. "You desecrated… _Hera's_ image of all goddesses?" she asked. I think it was rhetorical but I decided to answer it like it wasn't anyway. "I did and I will accept the consequences in time just not when I can still take even more drastic action against her," I answered.

"What more could you do?" she asked. "Challenge the goddess to a showdown of skill-against-skill alone. The part that would be best about is declaring it in a very brief amount of time like a half an hour or so. Because then she'll have to take drastic measures if she wants to cheat," I answered.

"You can't win even if she had no time to cheat off of Ares! You're a mortal and she's a goddess," Annabeth exclaimed. "That's precisely what Tethys said before I ripped her head from her shoulders," I replied. She paled and I knew I had surprised her with how violently Tethys had met her end.

The worst part was how open and calm I had been about exchanging how Tethys had been killed by my hand. I am usually very secretive about that since Poseidon kind of wanted it confidential. "Annabeth, I'm mounting an expedition to find my cousin. Keep going with the preparations and don't wait for my return in case Prometheus decides to move before that's possible," I told her. It's not that I didn't care about the Camp (I cared for it deeply), it was just I had to find my cousin and I had to know more about my past and find out what was true and the gods had been keeping away from me.

"I'm sorry Annabeth but in order to effectively lead you and the other demigods, I have to get this over with. Would you rather have me with a cool head on my shoulder or one that has multiple thoughts racing across its mind?" I said to her. "Would you like a ceremony to bid you farewell or do you want a quick, confidential leave of absence?" Annabeth asked. "Quick one will be easier and I'll just take a few hundred bucks; I hate eating that healthy organic crap you guys have here," I answered.

She giggled in agreement and it was not long before I was parting from Camp Half-Blood. Now I know I have not been there as long as I have been on Olympus training but one vast difference between them made it hard for me to leave. Unlike Olympus, Camp Half-Blood had comforts and love that I had never known in my entire life except when I was with Eos. Leaving it behind was like abandoning some part of myself and expecting to get over it within the hour.

It was not long before the Half-Blood Hill was walked over and I was on my way back to the dangerous world of monsters, magic, and mortals. I called the nearest bus station from a payphone and asked when the next bus was due for Cleveland, Ohio where Hyperion's fortress had been when I last saw it two days ago. The thing about it was that it almost always changed location and I had heard from Hermes that it was due to move to Corpus Christi Texas in another week or so. "By the way, Hera's pissed about your desecration of her image at Camp Half-Blood but I think it was cool," he added before I told him to go back and tell her to suck it.

"As you wish but don't get mad at me when you hear from her in person about that comment. I mean I admire your courage but normally I don't make these sorts of runs since they're too uncouth and uncivilized," Hermes replied. "Oh don't worry Hermes, I _hope _she comes to me responding to my comment in the only way she can respond to anything," I told him. He shrugged and vanished in an instant, his sandals flying him across the world at the speed of sound.

I soon arrived at the bus station due to carry me to Cleveland for the four days they said I would be on it. In the meantime, I decided to read the Aeneid by Publius Virgilius Maro a.k.a. Virgil. Then it struck me that Bryan was on a similar sort of journey and I decided to see if I could use my telepathic connection with him to call him and say howdy. _Yo Bryan, what up man? _I asked telepathically.

At first, I heard no response then I heard him say hello back and ask how I was. _On my way to find someone I had once assumed dead but have now been informed is still alive. Remember how I told you about my cousin and how I thought she was dead? _I asked him telepathically. _Yeah, it was the most difficult thing for you to ever tell me; is she the one who's still alive when you had assumed her dead? _he answered.

I told him she was and he replied that he wished me luck in finding her. _Prometheus has already been kind enough to have Thalia tell me where I can find her. I'll be heading to Cleveland, Ohio via bus right now _I told him. _Be careful, when a Titan tells you something of that sort then there's a good reason as to why _Brian said.

At that point, I assured him that I was aware of that and he then decided to tell me he had to leave. _We're approaching some heavy weather and may have to settle on a nearby island before we continue our journey. That's assuming there are any islands nearby, of course _he added. _I wish you luck on finding a place for your people, you truly deserve it after all you've been through; where are you now? _I asked.

_ We're far beyond the shores of Florida, past Cuba and nearing the end of the Caribbean _he answered. That surprised me and I wished him luck just before he disconnected from communications with me. After that take of leave, my first clue that I was even headed in the right direction was when the bus was stopped by a big man (about six feet and seven inches tall) that wielded a huge spear in a bus stop. I realized immediately this was a champion of the gods from Japan named Sakon Shima and it was apparent that he noticed me as well since he winked at me before deciding he would just take the next bus.

_That can't be right, he died at Sekigahara fighting the samurai commanded by Tokugawa Ieyasu! If he's alive right now that means the Titans know I'm coming or worse, this is Hera's response to my desecration to her image _I thought to myself. "Ladies and gentleman, this is where we stop to refuel the bus and keep in mind this baby has been running without a stop for a solid two days so it will be at least two hours before we're ready to keep going and another half hour before we're back on the road," the driver announced on the speakers. _Oh shit, now I have to run a gauntlet with Sakon and see if he's really after me or if I'm just using him as an excuse to surprise or scare myself _I told myself. 

Carefully, as Perseus had taught it, I walked in the thick of the line in the hopes he didn't dare attack innocent people. Surprisingly, the strategy proved effective until the crowd began to split up and I was left in the open. It was at that point that Sakon began marching toward me and I knew I would have to meet him in combat if that was what he was here for. As I thought, he was indeed here to kill me and started out by jabbing the head of his spear at me and shouting that he would kill me in the name of his mistress.

"Uh, just who the hell is your mistress anyway?" I asked. "Why, I think you'd know who she is considering that you desecrated her image in your anger. Now, quit talking and let us see who is the greater warrior between the second in command to Mitsunari Ishida of Japan and the demigod son of Kronos himself," Sakon answered. If there's anything I remembered learning from Perseus that I could immediately remembered, it's that warriors like Sakon were only defeated through superior skill and one or both of two other things.

The first thing was to have a group of warriors that were also highly skilled to fight as unison with you. Whether you had that or not, the second thing was a quick-thinking brain that exploited their past deeds and used their pride against them. "So Sakon, tell me. What was it like at the Battle of Sekigahara, I heard you fought with honor there and I wanted to just confirm those rumors," I asked.

When he moved to speak, I struck and I struck with the powers of the Sky Sword and calling a lightning bolt to immobilize him. After that, I noticed a peal bracelet that he had on and I knew it for a clue instantly. I snatched it through the use of telekinesis and took it with me because I knew that Hera used to use it as a means of finding me whenever I was gone too long. It glowed more brightly with each inch you came closer to your destination and I told it that I was looking for my cousin at Hyperion's fortress.

Immediately it began to glow with a brightness that told me that I was more than a fourth of the way there. That was a good sign and I made sure to hold on to it as tightly as I could. For one, the light of it would disturb the other passengers at night and for another, I didn't want to fight mortals as it was forbidden for Olympian champions to do so unless there was just no choice. And I didn't want to give myself an excuse to harm innocent mortals who were just a little upset about their sleep being disrupted by a bright light.


	44. Annabeth: Preparing For War Strangely

**Annabeth: Preparing for war with Percy in the strangest way ever**

With Gabriel gone, it was hard to find solid leadership and discipline in the Council. Nico had to go make the proper arrangements for the undead Spartans to be summoned back to this world and Chiron had somehow managed to take over Gabriel's place as our leader. However, he seldom called for meetings and it was really beginning to piss me off. So Percy and I arranged for Cabin leaders to meet in secret, without his permission, and proceed with the plans Gabriel had left behind in case something like this happened.

I knew Gabriel would not want that and so did Percy but both of us understood that he would have accepted it as a necessity when he saw our situation. Plus he had told us that the most subtle actions sometimes led to the best answers so I guess there was nothing subtle in the actions we took to look professional in his absence. The public story was that he had left to see if there was anything more we could do to fortify and protect our Camp without having to sacrifice very many people. So the final stages of Gabriel's biggest plans were set into motion like the gears of a complex machine but something was still missing from it all.

While on break from figuring out how to save this camp, Percy and I made love once more. We drowned ourselves in our pleasure and because he was armed with the Curse of Achilles, the best of it was better than any one-night stand with an average man. Not that I had one but hey, the Curse of Achilles certainly granted Percy more power in every way than any other man. Okay, I'm overindulging the details but I just get so swept into the memories of our nights together in spite of the protection failing and us having to stop until Percy had another condom on.

This session had already been going strong for at least an hour and a half with me only taking half an hour to wear out. Yeah, says something in the way of Percy's improved status with the Curse of Achilles. I just hoped that when and if it were taken from him, he would have an imprint of it and the imprint was this uncanny sexual stamina. It was silly just keeping my legs spread and watching him working the intricacies of a condom before he finally returned to bed.

I was thinking about all this, I realized a possible way we could be saved from any chance of defeat. "Percy, have you ever thought that maybe what we need for the war effort is to lure the enemy in instead of keeping them out?" I asked. "What do you mean?" he answered as he kissed my breasts repeatedly and kept thrusting. Between thrusts, I told him about how maybe the walls shouldn't be so important as surprising them by letting them in and then annihilating them after we had gone through everything else.

"You're the daughter of Athena and our strategist in the absence of Gabriel. You figure how all of that works and I'll see to it that your plan is fulfilled. Step by little step," he replied. "Well that's the best I can come up with right now and I admit it isn't much but it is something," I told him.

"Gabriel would be pleased with your brilliant mind," Percy said as he kept biting at my breasts in an erotic manner. It was all it took to sweep me from the war efforts and the realm of eternal pleasure. The Curse of Achilles did its work from there and in the morning, I made sure to remember my idea. Chiron would need to hear about this war strategy although I wasn't sure he needed to hear how I came up with it.


	45. Gabriel: A Blast From The Past

**Gabriel: An unexpected but massive blast from the past**

Find Hyperion's fortress after four days of journeying? Check. Bust down the door and begin fighting my way to my cousin? Check.

Find out where my cousin was being hidden? Well, I still had to find out from one of the soldiers since my logic was that they all had to know if they were to keep her hostage. I grabbed one and demanded to know where she was immediately after busting down the front door and killing hundreds if not thousands of them in a blur of movement. "She dwells in torment at the top of the tallest tower of this fortress, her arms chained so that she is hung up a few feet off the ground," he said before I finished him.

I used him as a shield against the arrows of his buddy then continued my journey from there. Breaking through the lower levels, I made it to the elevator that would take me by all but the last six floors before the top of the high tower. In all, I traveled up one hundred and forty-two floors without opposition from the enemy forces that dwelled in Hyperion's home. It was when I arrived at my stop that I knew I would be facing the true might of the defenses Hyperion had activated in case he was unable to return home.

Thousands upon thousands of soldiers swarmed upon me but I knew I could wipe away these bums like I was wiping a stain off glass. The power of the Sky Sword saw through most of them but whatever it didn't kill was killed by a mix of hand-to-hand martial art techniques. I even used a move to throw one soldier into a wall hard enough to shatter every bone and leave a massive crater in the wall. Nonetheless I climbed ropes, ran along short bridges that required incredible balancing skills, and fought soldiers until at last, I reached the final floor of the tower.

There, I saw someone I would never expect to have seen here: Sakon. For a brief time, we fought fiercely at the entrance to the top floor of the tower then I came up with an idea. Since I saw that there was a keyhole in the shape of a blade too big for my Sky Sword, I goaded Sakon into trying to skewer me on his spear. I dodged in the nick of time and saw that his spear fit perfectly inside the key to the doorway.

His spear was immediately absorbed into the door and it opened with a slow creak and a gradual turn inward. Sakon and I watched as the gate opened to reveal a teenage Little Mary, chained by her arms so that she was hanging several feet off the ground. "Hmm, perhaps it's best you and I don't fight right now. If anything happens to her, I'll be behind you," Sakon said.

"Whoa, what?" I asked. It didn't make sense because for one thing, this guy had been sent to kill me by Hera. Now he was saying he was going to help me if anything happened with my cousin? Well, I had little choice but to trust him especially after he told me that though Hera's order had been to destroy me, Zeus' overruling order was to try and prevent me from reaching my cousin even if it _did _take killing but protect me if I did reach her anyway.

Nonetheless, reached her I had and after years of speculation about her existence, my questions were answered. Or so I initially thought before I asked Sakon to help me break the chains that held her up. I caught her in my arms while Sakon sheathed his sword and told me to be careful. Since she was her eyes were closed and she didn't seem to move, I asked if she could hear me and introduced myself as her cousin.

"I… can… hear you… perfectly," she said with effort. "I've come to get you out of here. Come with me back to this cool place called Camp Half-Blood where you'll be safe," I told her. "I cannot," she said. "What has you so certain when I know someone can heal you of your torment here at least physically and if Dionysus happens to be there, he can heal any developing madness in you?" I asked.

"Hyperion cursed my body to explode if I ever left this tower, that's what. And you, Mr. Beefcake, don't have much time before the remainder of his forces find and overwhelm you," she answered. At first, I thought she was talking to Sakon because she turned slightly toward him then I remembered she always called me Mr. Beefcake because of the build I had even when I was a kid. Suddenly, I saw Sakon fighting off the bulk of Hyperion's forces and I knew she was right and I would have to either help Sakon or leave him and hope he died.

As much as he had tried to kill me twice and I hated him for it, I kind of liked him in a strange way. "Leave him, your mother needs you more than he does," she said. I paused there and remained in a near-catatonic state of surprise. My mother alive when I had seen her killed her by Kronos and the gods confirming it?

"My mother? But she has been dead since I was just a couple years old," I told her. "No, your housekeeper was the one who died that day. She sacrificed herself to save you and her from the bulk of Kronos' anger but it was when Kronos was calmer that he decided to think of something worse for your mother and she still suffers it to this day," she explained to me.

"If my mother is alive, where _is _she?" I asked her. "To know would only bring pain upon you," she answered. But I pressed on, about to do anything to have my mother after these years of believing she was dead and believing she wasn't simultaneously. I was not about to lose a chance to save her now and I would go to any depth of this world or the Underworld to rescue her.

That was just a coincidence for what I found out: she _was _in fact in the Underworld in spite of her status as a living person. She was in the Heart of Tartarus itself, trapped in torment in Kronos' place, the Titan having cursed her to never be free unless either I rescued her or she willingly fell into oblivion. I was determined to let it be the former rather than the latter and asked Little Mary about how I could enter the Underworld. "Only with the guidance of the son of Hades or the permission of the Lord himself can you hope to enter the Underworld without having some defense measure against the Furies and Cerberus," Little Mary said.

"Come with me, I can protect you from the curse that keeps you in this tower. Hell, I can probably undo it!" I begged. "You cannot undo the powers of a god and be a mortal," Little Mary replied. "I've killed gods Little Mary and I _did _kill Hyperion," I told her.

"Listen to him, lass. It's all truth and no deceit," Sakon added. "Curses cannot be undone solely with the death of the god themselves. Only one of Hyperion's children who is closest to your heart can undo the curse," Little Mary replied.

"I think I know who meets those requirements," I said. For a brief moment, I gently placed Little Mary on the floor and used telepathy to call to Eos. _Oh divine love of thy mortal life, I call upon thou to free thy sister from the curse thy father hast left on her _I said. She was always attracted to Medieval English rather than Modern English so I simply did what would attract her to my location better.

And just like that the roof to the fortress was torn away as a shooting star descended from the skies, shrinking until it was about the size of a person and metamorphosed into a human form. "Let me see her," Eos said, immediately after arriving. I handed my cousin over to Eos and she went straight into her examinations of Little Mary. After quickly examining her, Eos told me something I wished I didn't have to hear from her.

"My love, I have to take her with me. She is freed of the curse but something else has sprung in its place and is working to kill her. If I succeed, you will see her again but if I don't then forgive me," she said before flying into the skies again. I watched as she took my cousin to Olympus and Sakon told me that I had to go before it was too late.

"What about you?" I asked. "Though I served Hera, Zeus' orders took precedence over hers. His orders were to help you through this as best I could and right now, the best way is for you to get out of here while I hold off Hyperion's forces," he answered. I nodded and turned toward the balcony that was not too far away from where I was and decided to make a mad dash for it.

I made it with ease but before I jumped, Sakon called back to me. "Don't trust the gods fully Gabriel, it will cost you everything," Sakon said. "I already don't," I said before jumping and seeing Sakon turn himself into a suicide bomb. Just as I was about halfway across to the nearest tower, the one I escaped exploded and fell opposite of my direction.

_What a dedicated warrior although I didn't like that shift in loyalty _I said to myself. Then I had to remember that I had made such a shift when I had served Hera but not on any orders from Zeus. My reason was good but it was definitely not on orders from Zeus. _There is a time and place for the past and now is not it _a foreign voice said to me.

_Who are you and how do you know me? _I asked the voice. _You will come to know soon enough but now, you must hurry back to Camp Half-Blood. Prometheus means to launch his assault in a few hours and neither you nor Percy Jackson are there to lead them _the voice answered. _Where did Percy go? _I inquired.

_To find help more quickly while you were away via the request of his girlfriend Annabeth _the voice explained. I knew I had to get back to Camp now and ran just as the fortress that had once belonged to Hyperion began to crumble and explode in my face. I had just barely got past the walls of the place when it fell before me and I saw the magic of that palace unleashed across the plains where it had been contained in.

As for that voice, I wondered what if could have been. Something familiar was carried within it, something that I had lost long ago and was about to recover. But finding out what it was would have to wait for another time. A time when I wasn't running like there was no tomorrow to reach the Camp before it was attacked.

I even had to use the supersonic speed of the gods in order to even cover enough ground to reach it walking in an hour. When I was back, I immediately told the campers to seal the gates and prepare for war. "What about calling for the help of the gods?" one camper asked. "The hell with that besides, they can't help us anyway as Zeus has forbidden it," I answered.

That was true and Zeus had even taken the liberty of telling me that himself along the way via telepathy. _I have faith in your leadership. Prove Hera wrong about you like you tried, years ago _he said. Now I knew this battle was not just a battle for revenge: it was a battle for my very soul and to decide whether or not I would be damned or blessed.


	46. Percy: Finding Help In The War

**Percy: Finding help in the war against Prometheus**

Gabriel's absence to find who he was left Chiron back in the old position of leading the camp. But he was not about to let Gabriel's preparations continue so easily and I knew he would soon find out what we were doing and try to intervene. After my night with Annabeth, I decided I would take a little journey of my own. A journey to the Palace of Eos, the dawn goddess herself, and find out if there was any way she could help keep Chiron blind from the war efforts or at least help it keep going.

My journey was very short as Eos apparently wanted to see me as soon as I could spare the time. "I needed to see you because I fear for Gabriel and you are the only one who is even remotely close to him besides Annabeth and Thalia. His cousin is recovering remarkably well and remarkably fast but she has told him enough before entering this trance to set him on a destructive path to find himself," Eos said. "What could be so horrifying about his past that to search it would be destructive?" I asked.

"If only you knew the whole story of why we hid the truth from him. Why I was forced to never tell him although I loved him and really wanted," she answered. The look on her face told of an innocence that overshadowed all guilt but just barely. It made me even sadder that she loved him yet could not do what she knew was right without it costing heavily.

"Then show me the full story, reveal to me what happened to his mother that the gods hid from him until now. Tell me why it was so bad that he was never allowed to know the truth," I begged. I added that perhaps I would then know why Eos, her siblings, and Hestia were the only ones he truly trusted. "Percy… don't say I didn't warn you," she said before thrusting a hand onto my head.

Immediately, I was transported to a different time and a different place entirely. I was in an infirmary room where a woman was birthing and although everyone else was black and white in color (keep in mind I was in somebody's memories and could do nothing to change them) Eos maintained her colors. "This was when he was born, do you see anyone missing from amongst the gods?" she asked. At first, I couldn't notice any god or goddess missing from this but then I remembered she had not restricted the gods to just Titans or just Olympians.

"Two are missing: Hera and Kronos, correct?" I asked. Eos nodded and explained why both of them were missing. "Hera was assigned to distract the baby's own father if she couldn't kill him while Gabriel was being birthed. We had to keep his mother alive until then otherwise Gabriel would be unnatural," she said.

"But why would you be worried about Kronos doing anything to him?" I asked. "Because Kronos (not the one you fought but the one who fathered Zeus _and _Gabriel) would have eaten him like he tried to do to Zeus and almost did to Chiron were it not for the fact he would have to eat his horse part as well. The Titan who fathered the gods, Chiron, and Gabriel feared that if Gabriel were born, he would destroy him unless that cursed deity turned him into his slave," Eos answered. "Wait, I didn't fight the Titan almost two months ago?" I asked, confused.

"No, you fought the Primordial deity of Time itself and his name is spelled K-H-R-O-N-O-S or occasionally with a C rather than a K. The one you thought you fought was the one spelled K-R-O-N-O-S or C-R-O-N-U-S and he was the Titan Lord," Eos answered. "Okay, so the Titan was still roaming free whilst the God of Time played as him in order to give the Titans hope in their attempts to rebel against Olympus. Where was he after the birth of Gabriel to have him gone this long?" I asked.

"I saw that coming before you even thought to ask that of me. Let me show you that Cronus has not remained dormant all this time," Eos answered. Instantly, we were teleported to yet another place and another time where we saw Gabriel as a two-and-a-half-year-old boy that played with his mother and housekeeper. "The housekeeper became Mary's husband after Cronus deserted her and their son; he was a good man in spite of the fact that he knew who his stepson's father was and knew that if Cronus chose to return, he should not expect to defy him and live to tell about it," she explained.

I watched as little Gabriel played with a ball he seemed to like a lot by throwing it to his mother and waiting for her to throw it back at him. Now don't get me wrong, it was the perfect image of a happy family with an adorable little kid that loved to play ball apparently. "He would not have you know it but being a son of a Titan, he's autistic and that usually heightens the reflexes of a demigod even more than an ADHD or dyslexic kid such as yourself could hope for. It's because of that that he doesn't have to rely on the Curse of Achilles for power if he doesn't wish to," Eos explained.

I nodded in understanding and smiled as Gabriel continued to play with his mother and stepfather. Just then, the door came crashing down and a man dressed entirely in black said that he came for his son. "Peter, hold him off at least until I can hide Gabriel, please!" Mary begged as she picked up her son and ran out of the living room. The fear in her voice was genuine but I could tell it was not for her but for her son, just as I figured it would be.

"Where do you think you're going with my son? You dare flee from me when I have come simply to see the latest addition to my collection of children?" Cronus boomed. "You got some audacity yourself man, you broke down my fucking door and demanded to see the kid," Peter replied. Surprisingly, he drew out a long medieval sword that peasants would be seen with.

"Why that heavy weapon when you could have two very light weapons such as what my sickle can become?" Cronus taunted. Then he unsheathed a sickle that he made into two swords that looked like Backbiter and fought with both against the housekeeper. The housekeeper held his ground until at last, Mary returned but for some reason, Gabriel had followed her back out and Cronus took this opportunity to viciously mutilate the mortal man before Mary's eyes. Several links in his small intestine stuck out and he barely managed to keep it in with his hands before Cronus ravaged his face with the blades and stab him in the heart with the sickle.

"I'm sorry sir but I can't have mortal defilers touching the woman who gave birth to my golden son," Cronus said. Then he called Gabriel over to him, Mary to scared to do anything until it was almost too late. But she reached for the nearest thing she could find, which turned out to be a bottle of champagne, and smashed it over Cronus' head. Then she forced Gabriel to run and locked the bedroom behind him as he went in.

"You _dare _interfere with what must be done? Traitorous whore, you defiled your body with that mortal didn't you!" Cronus shouted. "I didn't defile myself, you left us!" Mary replied. "I had to, Zeus forbids all gods from being with their mortal kids and even I am restrained by this," Cronus said.

"You're the Lord of the Titans, you answer to no one but yourself. There was no way you could have been restrained by the rules of the Olympians," Mary said. She had quite the bravery to defy the Lord of the Titans himself but I had to remember that she was protecting her son, not herself. "You know, I really don't want to kill you so I will subject you to something worse, something only a Titan could think of," Cronus finally said after a small pause.

"What? Being your sex-slave like I was when you and I conceived Gabriel?" Mary asked. "No though that would have been more fun," Cronus answered, catching her off guard. He laughed and said that he would subject her to the tortures of the Heart of Tartarus.

"Deeper even than where my fellow Titans were confined, you will face tortures that no mortal mind has ever experienced. You will experience it all alive and when it comes time for your death, your soul will be sent into oblivion where the memory of you will be erased from this universe," he added. I gulped in fear at having to see that then suddenly, another woman (a little more elderly in look) came out from where Gabriel had been confined and began to carry him out. "Ah Hestia, are you bringing my son to me so that I may cancel Mary's little reservation in the Heart of Tartarus?" Cronus asked.

"Here you go father, he is my brother and your son after all," Hestia answered. Mary screamed and told her not to do it but Hestia turned and winked at her in assurance. Cronus unwrapped the bundle supposedly containing Gabriel to find a stone instead of his son. "You dare trick me, the Lord of the Titans, as your mother had done before you?" Cronus hissed in rage.

He opened a maelstrom of fire that began to suck everything in the room into it. Being a mistress of flames, Hestia was not affected by it but Mary was and she was instantly sent through it to Tartarus. But then Hestia did something interesting: she kept the portal open even when Cronus demanded it to be closed and she grabbed the Titan by the neck before throwing him in it as well. "A mortal can survive the Heart of Tartarus much longer than a god can," Hestia said before closing it.

For a moment, there was only silence in the room when the slight dripping of the housekeeper's blood was excluded. Then Hestia added, "Let it be that though Mary will be tortured as per your orders, father, your godly essence will be absorbed by Tartarus himself for later use while the body containing it is destroyed with no hope of restoration. However, the child must believe his mother is dead and so, this housekeeper serves his final purpose." "Do you see why we kept the truth from him and have kept it from everyone else now?" Eos asked.

"The gods lied to him about all of this?" I asked back. "We had to, Hera forbid the truth from being told to him and refused to listen to Zeus. She said it would be for his own good but I see you think differently," Eos answered. I nodded and I really did think different: it might not have been indeed "for his own good" if he had been told sooner rather than just now.

Especially when one considers his greatest challenge is yet to even come! "Do the rest of his memories consist of his service to the gods and his time at Camp Half-Blood?" I asked. "With a few sidetracks here and there, yes. Come with me, you know the rest and we have to return to the present time," Eos answered.

"Isn't there something missing from all this? Something you have to show me that even Gabriel doesn't know about?" I inquired. She stated that there in fact was something and we had to be quick if I wished to see it. "But promise me on the River Styx that you mouth will remain silent about this unless I say otherwise," she said before we went on.

I swore and she brought us to another time that was in fact, not a memory of Gabriel's but a memory of hers. Here, I saw Nadine in a hospital and giving birth to her twin children by Gabriel's seed. And it was here that I saw my biggest for hating Hera that I ever had. Nadine screamed in pain as she tried to give birth to her children desperately and she barely managed to get one out without practically wearing herself out.

But according to Eos, it had died since it did not receive the proper blessings necessary for childbirth from either Hecate or Iris. Now, Nadine was determined to give birth to a living baby even if it cost her dearly and the shade of Eos begged for Hera to let one of the goddesses bless the birth and let this one survive. But Hera refused to listen and even forbid the hands of either goddess to intervene regardless of the importance. Then I saw Eos do something that I never thought she would have the courage to do: she asked Hera that if neither goddess was going to save the baby then at least let one of them help them both escape the pain permanently.

I watched as Hecate, the only one bold enough to do such a thing, step up and recite the incantation for the death of both mother and child in labor. After that, Nadine was successful in expelling her last child but that was when she and the baby drew their last breaths of life and died. Seeing that innocent woman suffer as well twin babies that would have provided Gabriel with the beginnings of a family suffer brought upon a rage that I had never felt before. "You came to me for help, I shall give it to you now that you have bore witness to this," Eos said.

I wanted to attack Hera first chance I had now and renew Annabeth's enmity against her once this war was over. There was no way in the world I would bow down to a Queen who made her own brother suffer just because he disagreed with her in the only way he could. And now, I had to receive Eos' help and return to Camp before it was too late to do anything. "When your father tried to court me millennia before, he gave me this," she said as she pulled out a conch shell designed to be a horn.

"What am I to do with this?" I asked. Eos laughed and replied that was the same question that she had asked him when he gave it to her. "He told me that if I just thought about something I needed immediately, I only had to blow on it. I think maybe you might need to call your brother Tyson and his Cyclops army with that," she added.

Grateful, I thanked her for her help and made to walk out of her castle. "Oh Percy, I almost forgot!" she shouted to me. I turned around and asked politely what she needed and she surprised me. "Tell Gabriel that his cousin is swiftly recovering and if he battle is won, tell him to call me to Camp before he makes any move to pursue Prometheus who will surely flee," Eos asked me.

"I will be sure to tell Gabriel when he gets back from his little journey," I answered. "He's still traveling from Hyperion's fortress back to Camp? I thought he was using the supersonic speed of the gods," she stated. "I wouldn't know anything about that," I told her.

"No, I suppose not. Off you go now, I just wanted to make those last requests and give you the help you sought from me," she said. "You have been a tremendous help and I will be sure to press for a cabin built in your honor as well as the honor of your siblings," I told her. "You do us too great a kindness," she said before I exited her home.


	47. Annabeth: The First Assault & Duels

**Annabeth: The first assault on the Camp begins and my first duel**

It was a normal day besides the fact that our armies were soon ready to march out to the defense of Camp Half-Blood. I had just barely finished seeing to the residents of the minor gods' cabins when it happened. One of our watchtowers got blown away by a fireball launched from in front of the Camp walls. Immediately, I instructed the kids of the minor gods to head outside while I had the alarm sounded by the children of Hermes and Chiron notified of attack.

As for the rest of the demigods, I had Malcolm ready them immediately whilst Nico took a secret passage out of Camp to attack the enemy from the flank. With Malcolm's help, I managed to immediately rally the Ares, Hephaestus, Demeter, and the Apollo cabins before issuing orders like a jabbering monkey and moving as chaotically as a decapitated chicken. Then I readied my Pegasus and flew it to places where heavy artillery had been installed and made sure the gunmen and women there were ready should the enemy come their way. From the front, I could easily see fireballs increasing in the number launched per minute from one to three and then five.

I watched as that number increased and I also saw how someone on the front side of the wall was almost ready to scale it. Before I could intercept though, I was stopped by the appearance of a leopard. I knew these were the creatures of Dionysus but asked if it had come under the service of him anyway. "Yes Annabeth, I did and I come with a message from Olympus: fight well or die disgracefully," it said before leaping off.

Then that soldier who was reaching the walls finally reached them and scaled them with just a harpooned length of rope that had been latched on before. He ascended rapidly and I arrived at the fortifications on top of the wall just in time to see him stand up on the harpoon and jump to complete the rest of his trip. I was quick to intercept and kick him in the face hard enough to almost send him back over the wall. He recovered quickly and the helmet fell off his head so I saw that instead of being a living soldier he was, in fact, a soul from the Underworld.

"Oh, hello there child of Athena, how rude of me to go without introducing myself," he said. And that's when I noticed that his eyes were gouged out and that he couldn't see anything out of them. Before he even said his name I guessed it to be Oedipus Rex, former king of Thebes and the victim of a prophecy where he killed his father and married his mother. "Though I prefer to keep that in the past, yes I am Oedipus and I am your doom, Annabeth Chase!" Oedipus said.

I pulled out a shield I had borrowed from one of the fallen demigods near me and placed it in front of me in case he tried to use his sword or any magic. Instead, he simply used his fist and punched a perfect impression of it deep into the shield. "Yes Ms. Chase, when I returned to this world Prometheus gave me a power great enough to lead our armies without weapons. This power is a great physical strength that even Hercules would have found trouble bringing down," he mocked with a loud, deep laughter.

I kept up my defense as he continuously punched deep dents into my shield and I found that I was in a hopeless situation. He was too physically powerful for me to wrestle down and he had already knocked one of the cannons over the wall when it got in the way. Twelve times, I rose my shield in defense and in twelve different spots were permanent and severe dents that would soon render it useless. "You know, I really wished to execute a child of Apollo for what he brought upon me but if I can't do that then an child of Athena might just be the next best thing," he said, lamenting the story of his life before.

"You know Oedipus, you were just a mortal when you first lived so tell me how you came by this strength. I'm always fascinated to hear the victim's side of a story and that one has been a big confusion on me for a long time," I said just when I saw a watchtower and immediately thought of something that just might work. "I have _always _been stronger than the average man for not being a demigod. How else did you think I was able to kill up to a dozen men, including my father Laius, with just my bare hands?" Oedipus explained.

"Go on, what got you even stronger than before?" I inquired. "When Prometheus was in need of someone to lead his armies that had the vengeance, he found me in Tartarus and decided I would be the best candidate out of the senile Sisyphus and that pathetic father of centaurs called Ixion," Oedipus continued. I held my shield up in case he made a move on me again since it was the only thing I could do and kept him talking until I had my back facing the watchtower. Then I threw my shield at him the same way I'd seen Captain America throw his shield at his enemy and while Oedipus caught it, I ran and talked to Connor in the watchtower.

"Listen Connor, I need you to evacuate your soldiers there. The enemy pursuing me is Oedipus Rex and his already abnormal strength has been magnified by Prometheus," I told him in the walkie talkie. "So what does that have to do with leaving the watchtower?" he asked back to me. "There's no time to argue, do as I said and make sure to destroy the pillars on the upper floors on your way out; he's stronger than any of us and I need to know just how much stronger," I answered in the tone of a commander.

"You got it boss, I'll have my soldiers on the job immediately. Oh and one more thing, do you want us to evacuate to the door opposite of where you're about to enter?" he asked. "I do and make it quick," I snapped. "Roger that and I hope to see you after this," he replied.

"You wish to test my strength, do you? Very well, I shall play your game and I shall win," Oedipus declared just before I entered into the watchtower. Luckily, Connor wasn't there nor were any of his soldiers and that speed surprised even me. My only hope was that they had done as I had asked and destroyed all the pillars on the floors above so that when Oedipus destroyed these last ones, the whole thing came down on him.

Then I started some taunting of my own just to get him a little excited. "Oh Oedipus, sure you can punch through my shield but you see that's very thin compared to these pillars. Let's see if you can punch through them and if you punch through all four of them, I'll let you kill me on the condition that it be quick," I told him. "Then consider it done and I _will _have my way with you before you depart from this earth into Hades!" Oedipus boomed with excitement.

It took about seven or eight punches but he blasted through the pillar as though it were nothing. Then I kept encouraging him to take down the last three pillars since I already had him blinded with rage as much as he was blind in sight. But then I had to wonder how he knew me and where to find me when I was in the watchtower. In a matter of minutes, I was behind the last pillar and he was coming for me and at the final moment before he started punching through the doors, I bolted for the wooden pillar at the middle of the ground.

With a quick little punch to it, I destroyed it using a simple trick that Chiron taught me when I was beginning training back at Camp. I made it to the door just in time to see Oedipus destroy the last pillar and bring down the entire tower upon himself. "You little bitch, you tricked me!" Oedipus shouted back to me. "Let's see if you get out of it and in the meantime, I will be repelling your forces off my walls," I replied.

I waved goodbye as the tower caved in on him and considering that he never popped up again, it was reasonable to believe I had succeeded in at least immobilizing him if not killing him. Now I felt proud of myself for that accomplishment and I had the feeling that Hercules and his father would have admired it too. But most important was that my mother would admire it more than anyone else and that's what counted for me. I continued to bark orders and run like a chicken with its head cut off after that duel but I made sure that Chiron wrote it down as something to celebrate when this was over.

When I realized that the fireballs were going to make the difference as to whether the enemy scaled these walls and conquered the camp, I made sure to have my most skilled archers aim for the men at the catapults on the opposite side. All of them were successful in hitting their targets and making the catapults destroy each other with only a couple fireballs running off into the enemy camp. It was then that I saw Prometheus fuming as he should at the loss of his greatest form of artillery and he knew we stood a better chance now than we did before. Now we only had to stall the soldiers until Nico signaled me that his part would soon be done for the camp via the walkie talkie I had given him before he left to do his chore.

"Thank the gods we had that spy to make Prometheus bold enough to venture into the narrow interior of Half-Blood Hill before this happened. Oh hey, since your boyfriend's gone you got another idea about reducing his numbers?" the Apollo leader asked. "Let me put it this way: Nico's initiating the backup plan and if anybody can make what we have in mind work, he can," I answered. "Oh boy, I'm gonna love this," the kid said.

I couldn't agree more with him and I really wish that Percy hadn't left and to my delight, Nico soon gave me the signal that he was clear to go. After that I gave him the signal right back to launch the attack whenever he wanted to. "Hey, pull everyone out, we got a little job from Hades that doesn't need our interference," I said to the leader of the Apollo cabin as well as the Hermes cabin. "Thank the gods my spy made this possible, huh?" Connor asked rhetorically.

"Yeah, we'll have time to celebrate when this assault is over and we have won. That is, _hopefully _we'll have time to celebrate when this ends," I answered him patiently. And that was when I noticed another soul of the dead coming towards the wall and this time, I knew he'd be a little more of a warrior from his armor than Oedipus had been. "Bow before Alexander, son of Zeus!" the soul said and I knew I was in a world of trouble at that point.

If I didn't deal with this guy quickly, he was going to bring the Camp to its knees. Luckily, the bow of a fallen Apollo kid was available and an arrow lied near it for my immediate use. I was not the best shot but I was pretty sure I could hit Alexander the Great from on top of the Camp's walls. My shot was a surprising success, hitting the Macedonian general square in the throat and sending him back to the Underworld but not before he vowed retribution from his supposed father; I snorted and laughed as he left.


	48. Nico: Providing Undead Reinforcements

**Nico: Using some undead reinforcements borrowed from my awesome**

**Dad for the fight**

After the battle began, I had quite a long ways to go from my cabin to the mountains that Annabeth wanted me to be at. She explained that the Spartans specialized in forward momentum and when the enemy was below them, on the bottom of a plain that led to a high hill, that would give the Spartans plenty of forward momentum. So much in fact that no living object could stop them once they started traveling toward their next fight. With that in mind, I told the Spartan soldiers when I went into the Underworld that their target would be a bunch of zombie and skeleton soldiers at which they started laughing.

"Surely you could have given us a better fight with undead Persian soldiers than that. You sure this is all you have for us soldiers of glorious Sparta?" Leonidas, their leader, asked me at that time. "Yes your majesty and I know that's disappointing but this is the worst that the Titan Prometheus could come up with," I told him. "Good enough for me," he said.

That was before I imprisoned him and his army in an orb that could only properly release them if it was broken by a blade made of Stygian ice such as my sword. I held it inside a bag that Persephone provided for me before I left the Underworld. According to her, it would keep the orb safe from all harm until the time came to unleash its power upon the armies of Prometheus. And now, the time was upon me and I had to unleash them before there were too many enemy soldiers approaching the walls of the camp and too few to be effect the overall progress of the army with an attack from the flank.

Carefully, I set the orb so that it faced downwards but it didn't roll from me either. Hey, there was a rock I could take advantage of so I did before that rock could go anywhere! Anyway, I placed the orb there, I took the tip of my sword, recited an incantation that asked my father to return them to Elysium in the event that they died in battle once more, and pushed the tip of my sword so that it drove itself into the orb and cracked it in half like an coconut. The souls of the dead immediately dispersed, reformed to their original shapes, then charged down the hills toward the targeted enemy once Leonidas had them turned in the proper direction.

Once the bulk of his soldiers were on the way, he turned to me and looked at me like he was trying to spook me. A moment later and he might have but unfortunately that was not what he intended. Instead he said, "Thank you and oh by the way, make sure there's not a curse on the orb bounding you to service in the Underworld on it." Then he charged with the rest of his soldiers into battle against the forces of darkness as the night that they had begun their attack in began to fade away slowly.

They were not invincible in the night but they were much stronger than they were in daylight. Which was precisely why Annabeth thought it would be a good idea for either Percy to drown them with his control of the sea or have me summon dead souls. And now I watched as ten thousand Spartan soldiers did battle for the first time in over two thousand years and did so by first throwing their spears then hacking two men on either side of them before being cut down by others. At first, I thought it was going to be a massacre but then I realized something: for every one Spartan soldier that died, four Promethean soldiers died in the process of taking him down.

At that rate, the forty thousand, four-hundred and fifty-eight soldiers that were fighting before I unleashed the Spartan army had dwindled by a full forty thousand by the time the last Spartan soldier had been slain. Prometheus had sent an army that totaled fifty thousand strong at the beginning but not were not even half a hundredth that original number. That made me laugh with both pity for our soldiers at camp as well as the soldiers on the enemy side who had fallen to the Spartan army. After laughing, I noticed that fourteen Promethean soldiers were headed my way and I drew my sword to face them.

Luckily for me, they were having to climb up the hill and all I had to was make the ground turn against them via calling upon the powers of my father to throw the boulders around me. And that's precisely what I did and I watched as the ending result was that eight of them were crushed under the boulders despite the rest persisting. Two of them reached me but I decapitated them with one stroke of my sword before slashing down two more and tricking the final two into killing each other. After that I made my getaway before any more soldiers noticed me and decided it might be a good idea to attack me too.

I signaled to Annabeth that I was still alive and well via a flare she had given me before she sent me off. A flare was returned and I immediately ran back to the safety of the camp with the remaining strength I had in my body. The good thing was that I would be demanding my father to teach me a way to summon souls without too much of a toll like this but for now, sleep was the top thing on my mind. Believe me, that's a lot better than just slipping right into a coma for a few weeks and have to wake up right before a war.

Carefully and with close attention to detail (as close as my ADHD would permit me) I checked to make sure I hadn't been followed. I was all clear and entered the secret door Annabeth had created to the walls leading back to the camp and into my cabin where I could lounge out the rest of the night and most of the day before getting back to work. And don't say I couldn't do that because Annabeth told me that if I did a good job with the souls that Gabriel had permitted me to use and my father had given me the materials to properly use, I could lounge out the rest of it. That is, the rest of tonight's war effort and most of the day if I was not immediately needed.

"Hey Nico, I heard you did an awesome job out there today and claimed the lives of many soldiers! Care for a little fun with the ladies now that you're done with your little battle?" Drew, leader of the Aphrodite camp and sister to her predecessor, asked. "If I wanted fun with ladies I wouldn't be looking for you guys not would I? Back to your stations before I do something a little less exciting than giving my dick to you little wenches," I answered them.

"Fine, whatever, Mr. Old Skull N' Crossbones! Hope you're happy with yourself for this," Drew replied. "I am damn pleased with it actually," I said calmly before I told them to leave the vulgar way. After they left me alone, I laughed hard at comment of calling me Old Skull N' Crossbones because that was perhaps the oldest joke related to the dead that I had ever heard of.

And the funny thing was, whether they knew it or not, it was more related to pirates than death. I opened the door to my cabin, entered it, and closed it in a fluid series of motions before plopping down onto the bed I chose for just me: the one across from the door. Now this was as close to heaven as grim Hades was going to allow me for sure!


	49. Thalia: End of The First Assault

**Thalia: Ending the first assault and the brief peace that followed afterward**

Returning from the hunt for Prometheus' homeland, we saw the fires of the catapulted fireballs of the enemy that was attacking Camp Half-Blood. "Hunters of Artemis, ride to Camp Half-Blood in the name of Olympus!" I shouted without hesitation in my heart or mind. All two hundred of us rode toward the enemy immediately and knowing that our arrows never missed their targets, we struck while we were sill several meters away from the enemy. As for me, I called upon the powers of my father Zeus to strike at the clusters of enemies that had gathered around so that we could pick them off like wolves after a kill.

It didn't take us very long to destroy more than twice our number working in unison like this. Each time a hunter of Artemis shot an arrow, I imbued it with the lightning bolt from my father and when it struck, it electrocuted the enemy and caused immediate death. Never had the powers of Zeus in use worn me out quite like this and I knew that if I didn't guide my horse to Camp Half-Blood soon, I would be collapsing on it and sleeping right there. So I was quick to make sure I was infrequent about the usage of it after a while (at most of course) and arrived just before I reached a point of exhaustion.

The gates opened and I entered into Camp Half-Blood for the first time since I was charged with finding Prometheus' base of operations. Luckily for me, people were there to immediately collect my exhausted body before it hit the ground. These were both sons of Asclepius who were on duty and by Annabeth's orders had been sent to take me to my father's cabin. From what I heard after I awoke again, the Hunters of Artemis had had an easy time finishing off what remained without me and I was glad to see that my team did well.

And speaking of them, they were waiting for me in the Artemis cabin when I woke up. According to a son of Hermes, they had been delivered a message by a dying soldier of Prometheus' army that was meant for me. My legs were a little sleepy and I had trouble walking initially but I was glad to see that that quickly passed over me as though the sleepiness of my legs was in parallel with the sleepiness of my mind. "Can I get a nice, hot meal before I do anymore business in this war?" I asked.

"We knew you asked that and we made one just a minute ago for you to eat," the kid said. Sure enough, there was a plump and juicy chunk of ham, several patches of grapes, and a nice loaf of cheese bread. I devoured it all with only two or three cups of soda to wash it all down before walking out of the dining pavilion and heading for the cabin of Artemis. Everyone there was glad to see me and I was glad to see them but when all the formalities were out of the way, Phoebe handed me the scroll with the symbol of an eagle attacking Prometheus on the emblem.

I cut out the emblem and uncurled the scroll to see what the message said. To my surprise, it only contained a few sentences.

_Ms. Thalia Grace, _

_Or is that just Ms. Thalia because I seem to have trouble recalling what you said about hating your mortal mother to the point of refusing her name. That matters little and at any rate, wrote to you to do two things: first, congratulate you on being the leader of the finishing strike that destroyed the bulk of my army. Secondly, I would like you to go to the messenger I have sent under a white flag and give him one of two responses. He will give you a message from me telling you to surrender your arms and kneel before me for the safety of the Camp unless you'd rather keep fighting. _

_As the messenger is undead, he is already expendable so if you were to make him dead again then it would inconsequential to me unless his body returns to me. If that is the case then I will know that you will not surrender and you will try your best to hold out until Gabriel, emotionally confused uncle and my archrival, returns. Be warned that whatever you do, you will lose either way and the Camp will fall _

_Sincerely,_

_The Mighty Titan Prometheus_

I crumpled up the letter and asked for my spear to which one of the Hunters replied that it might be a good idea to have it. After leaving the Artemis Cabin, I asked where the messenger was and an Aphrodite cabin member pointed to the gates. I shook my head because it was a straight and clear shot if I decided to throw my spear at them. Instead, I handed it to Phoebe and drew out my bow and quiver of arrows before pulling out one arrow and aiming it at him.

When I knew that I had higher than ninety percent in terms of my odds of hitting him, I released the arrow and it flew. It tore through the air and as it went, time seemed to stop as it ripped its way toward its target. Then when it finally hit him in the throat, causing him to fall off the horse and unto the ground. The horse turned toward the gate and made a dash for it and since the horseman was tied to the saddle by the ankle, he went along for a drag back to Prometheus' camp.

"I'll never surrender nor will I let anyone in the camp surrender," I vowed. "Gabriel would not have wanted this to go any other way. You've done a good job although I think killing the messenger was a bit much," Annabeth said, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Prometheus will be leading the next assault himself since he's run out of generals; if what I recall of there being only Oedipus and Alexander to be correct," I stated.

"Yes, you're correct and I killed both of them. Trust me, it wasn't as easy as it sounds," Annabeth replied. I laughed as did she and that eased some of the tension that the camp was feeling to its very core. "Well I don't know about you crazies but I don't intend to fight in this battle," said Drew of the Aphrodite cabin.

"Who was speaking to the gossiping slut with only an appetite for the dick of power?" I asked before asking for my horse to be readied. "I'll keep that in mind when you need my help," Drew answered. "I don't think I'll be needing your help; come to think of it, I'd rather ask the help of Aeneas or even your mother than you," I said. Annabeth told us both to cool it and Drew to get lost after that and to my surprise, the little bitch agreed.

Now let me tell you, I had no trouble speaking my mind about cowards to cowards. And Annabeth explained that we needed the Aphrodite cabin because they were the ones making the supply runs and if Drew decided to withdraw her people, we'd be in trouble. "We just have to hold our ground until Gabriel returns, whether that requires the aid of the Aphrodite cabin or not," I told her. "On that I can agree because if Gabriel comes back, the tide could be turned completely in our favor and we could beat Prometheus," Annabeth said before we took our positions for the next assault.


	50. Percy: Beginning of Second Assault

**Percy: The second assault on Camp Half-Blood begins after I return**

I came back to Camp Half-Blood and found most of Half-Blood Hill littered with the bodies of Prometheus soldiers and some of the fortifications had taken a noticeable beating. One or two of the watchtowers had fallen down and the portcullis guarding the gates had been blown off by something fiery in design. I called out to the Hermes kids up at the top and told them to open up the gates for me. "How do we know you're not just an illusion of Percy Jackson?" one of them asked.

"If I recall correctly, I splashed Clarisse's fact with toilet water when she wanted to give you a swirly in the bathrooms," I answered. The person who asked me the question was named Randall and it was true that I had saved him from Clarisse's brutality. "Okay you're good, welcome home Percy," Randall said. I chuckled and walked through the gate to see the rest of the damage done to Camp Half-Blood.

A few of the cabins had been scorched but not badly hit except for one and that turned out to be the Ares cabin. _Just my luck to find a fireball had dropped on Clarisse's cabin while I was away _I told myself. But the only thing I was really looking forward to was seeing my precious Wise Girl again and I did soon enough. Though she had a few black marks across her face and forehead with a rip on her jean leg, she looked as beautiful as ever.

"Welcome home Seaweed Brain," she said the moment she saw me. "Thanks Annabeth, I really missed Camp Half-Blood. And oh, sorry for not having the dammed lake built in time for this but I got something else that might be of help," I said. I showed her the conch horn that Eos had given me and told her that I could possibly summon reinforcements with it.

"Can you do that now, just in case Prometheus decides to launch his next assault a little sooner than we'd like?" Annabeth asked. I shrugged and said that I probably could before I decided to do it. No sooner had I finished blowing than Tyson and his entire army of Cyclops appeared in camp. "Uh, why are we here?" Tyson asked.

"Sorry to pull you out from in the ocean, I guess I need you right now big guy," I answered. "Hey, brother Percy, what do you need me and my army for?" he inquired with that big toothy grin that showed peanut butter between the cracks of his teeth. Now that was typical Tyson and I was glad to see that hadn't changed much but I had to be serious. "You see Tyson, there's this big mean Titan named Prometheus who just barely finished attempting to destroy Camp Half-Blood and we need you and our army to help him get him off our turf when he tries to attack again," I explained.

"How dare Prometheus betray the glory of Olympus!" one Cyclops shouted. "What can we do while we wait?" Tyson asked. "You can help us repair the damage Prometheus did and you can have a few of your men look out for some fireballs or some soldiers running down the hill," I answered. Tyson immediately saw to that and I was truly glad to see him working with his men to repair the worst of the damage that happened to the camp.

Some of his men even lifted a few of our fellow demigods up to the roofs of the damaged cabin to give them a nice scrubbing. And just when it seemed that our recovery was complete, fireballs appeared again and I ordered Tyson to form the Cyclopes up to protect the fortifications and the cabins. "All demigods of Camp Half-Blood, to arms!" I shouted. Now I know what you may be wondering: where the hell is Chiron during all of this?

The answer may surprise you but he was taken with Mr. D back to Olympus and was asked to watch how we performed without his leadership. In the meantime, Thalia and I made sure that the Aphrodite kids played their part and the Hypnos kids were keeping up with their little intelligence network we had them start. Thalia rallied up the cabins who were willing to fight and Annabeth placed them where they would be of most use to the cause of saving this camp. Finally, when everything had been completed, I looked back at the cabins who were not fighting but especially the Aphrodite one since they were cowering behind their doors and I felt only disgust.

_They'd fight if Gabriel promised to stick his dick up their asses when this was over _I thought to myself. And while looking at them as well as the cabins who rushed to arms, I climbed up the mound called Zeus' Fist and made sure they were listening to me. "Brothers and sisters of Camp Half-Blood, I see in your eyes the fear I share for what may happen to this camp. But let me tell you, I'm not about to let my fear get the better of me and I'm most definitely not going to let this camp fall into the hands of Prometheus!" I began.

The Ares cabin banged their spears against their shields repeatedly and loudly in agreement. "I might not have a talent for words but I will demand this of you: to all the cabins who will fight with me to defend the camp, have your leaders raise their flag and give their pledge. The rest of you can take a step back out of this formation and walk away when I notice you," I told them. "Zeus' powers as well as the Hunters of Artemis are devoted to you Percy," Thalia said.

"You can count on the minds of the Athena cabin, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said after her. "The souls of Hades are yours to command through me," Nico shouted. "My fellow troops will show them no mercy!" Clarisse declared. "Hermes' children lend their speed and agility to the common cause, Percy Jackson," Connor and Travis Stoll agreed.

I heard the vows of the Apollo, Hecate, Morpheus, Nemesis, and Nike cabins before I was content. It made for a total of more than three thousand demigods and I knew that if we could hold the enemy at the gates, we stood a chance until Gabriel returned. Especially with the aid of the Cyclops who gave us an additional four thousand troops to rely upon, totaling to almost eight thousand troops fighting with me. But we still had to stand our ground against one hundred and forty thousand enemy soldiers.

Then I had a few ideas for how we could handle that extremity much better than we normally would. First, I called all catapults from all sides of the camp to the front and had several Cyclopes manning and reloading them each time they were fired. It would make for a more effective and quicker delivery of blows to Prometheus' army. Next, I had the minor cabins in the front so as to have the first chance to prove themselves plus see how they held up having to rely solely on the phalanx formation.

Lastly, I had all cannons and large crossbows called over to the front of the camp since we knew for certain that Prometheus would not be surrounding the camp. He was overconfident and we wanted to make him pay for that dearly. To conclude things, I had myself at the front and though unfinished, I decided to break the dam on the lake I had created and release the water upon the enemy soldiers. The Cyclopes who were not manning the catapults or the crossbows were also stationed at the front gates to shield the walls from the fireballs since they were immune to fire.

I even gave the approval for them to catch the balls and throw them back at the enemy. To the cabins that were not doing something (like even the Hypnos camp was) and were cowering away from the battle… I turned to them one more time and showed my disgust through what I said next. "You cowards stay here unless you get a change of mind but in the meantime, watch us fight this battle and watch us win it!" I shouted to them.

Then I charged for the gates as they were about to be pulverized by the enemy unless the Cyclopes stepped in. And that they did precisely since they acted as living shields while I connected my mind to the water in that artificial lake, which amounted to hundreds if not thousands of tons of water. Once I was telepathically connected, I told the water to break through the dam and let itself loose upon the enemy troops. It fought hard and long while the Cyclopes kept up their defense but I knew the dam had broken once I saw the water rushing from the right flank of the enemy.

As I had promised it would, it swept away a total of fifty thousand troops before the last drop was finished although it didn't get any of their catapults, thus keeping the fireballs in the picture. So I told the Cyclopes to direct their deflections at the catapults themselves and see to it that they were out of the picture before they could be allowed to do anything else. They did as they were instructed and they killed an additional ten thousand in that process. In gratitude, I told them to go all out and their catapulting brothers would give them cover fire as they went berserk on Prometheus' troops.

"Children of Apollo and Hunters of Artemis, concentrate your fire on the soldiers closest to the Camp walls. Annabeth, direct some manpower at Prometheus while I go see what Thalia can do to help besides gather our infantry into the phalanx," I ordered. "Sure thing, General Jackson!" she replied back to me. To my surprise, Thalia was finished with the formations and was also seeking to do something else while they waited to play their part.

"Thalia, is there anything you want to do now that the troops are assembled?" I asked. "Yeah, how about letting me at Prometheus himself? He's gonna start killing off the Cyclopes if we don't do something soon," Thalia asked. As if to help me find an answer to her question, we heard a Cyclops roar in pain before falling down forward onto more soldiers.

"Hope you mean just to distract him and not fight him head on. Go ahead and get out there but try not to get yourself killed at least until Gabriel comes back," I answered her. "Don't worry, I already have a plan in mind for how to deal with him," she replied to me. Then she told the soldiers along the wall to make away for her to start her little plan to fight Prometheus.

"Hey Prometheus, why don't you pick on someone your own size?" she asked before using the air to levitate herself off the ground. "Oh you wish to meet your doom at my hands, do you Ms. Grace? Very well, I accept your challenge!" Prometheus answered. Then I noticed that he flew after her so that they could have their duel in the sky before she started raining down lightning on him.

I shook my head as I resumed my duties as a general of Camp Half-Blood's army. The catapults kept going and forty thousand more men lied dead by the time we ran out. But it wasn't just the catapults, there was also help from the Cyclopes of course. I knew now that the final fight to hold the fort until Gabriel returned was at last underway.


	51. Thalia: End of The Second Assault

**Thalia: The end of the second assault and Gabriel's triumphant return to Camp**

I knew it was crazy, no make that foolhardy, to fight Prometheus on my own. But at the same time, I knew I had no choice if I wanted to save the Camp but risk my life fighting him. So when I managed to draw him away from the Cyclopes, who continued their massacre of his soldiers, I knew I had him where I wanted him. So I began pelting him with lightning bolts that he would deflect away from himself with a barrier of telekinetic energy.

Then there was a point where I began to fear for my life and that was when he began throwing the lightning bolts back at me. I had to create lightning bolts that were specifically for defense just to keep up the attack then I knew I was really in trouble when I started losing space to Prometheus. In my first attempt to stop him from taking any more space, I created a Greek shield out of lightning but he easily smashed his way through that. I was pushed back a little ways but knew nothing else to do besides create another shield and that's what I did.

He blasted through that as he had done the last one and I knew I was running out of ideas. I made a third shield and hoped that it would work this time since it was stronger than the other two but he still blasted through it with his hands wrapped in telekinetic energy. Before I could conjure a fourth shield, he rammed his head into my stomach and sent us both crashing to the ground beside the Aphrodite cabin. It was here that I decided to try and zap him with lightning via a punch to the face but he grabbed my fist before I could hurt him and reflected the lightning back into my body, electrocuting me.

The death-match seemed to last eternity but luckily, it was only for a few minutes that I was indecisive as to what to do with the lightning being reflected back into my body. Then I absorbed all of the reflected lightning, letting it in through one system, and letting it leave my mouth to shoot Prometheus in the face. Thankfully, I had released enough lightning onto him at one time for him to be completely thrown off me and sent sprawling across the air for at least three dozen feet. Then he landed on his backside and slid across the ground deep enough to create a small fissure in it.

He quickly rose from it to try and fight me again but he was stopped by something. I felt it too and I wondered what it was but that was before I heard a familiar sound. "Hey Prometheus, Thalia Grace seems to be too much trouble. Care for a son of Cronus instead?" the voice asked.

"Ah Gabriel, returned from finding out the truth about himself in Hyperion's fortress. So now you think you know everything?" Prometheus answered. "Depends on what you mean by everything. If you mean everything about this war then I do from the fact that your army is being wiped out rapidly to the fact that soon, you'll be surrounded by nearly eight thousand demigod warriors," Gabriel replied sharply.

Sure enough, the army came and encircled Prometheus, trapping him with a phalanx at every angle. "Now stay there until I get back and am ready to deal with you as I deem fit. Percy Jackson will be ordering _all _Cyclopes to go on the offensive against what remains of your army and Nico will be returning from outside the Camp's walls to see what he can do for us," Gabriel ordered. "Oh don't worry Johnson, I will be eagerly awaiting your return for it is foreseen that we shall face each other one last time," Prometheus calmly assured him.

While Gabriel went to check on the Cyclopes as well as check on the damage to the camp, Prometheus and I had a nice little discussion. "It seems, Ms. Grace, that your faith in Gabriel was not misplaced after all," Prometheus told me. "When a daughter or son of Zeus knows their right to question what someone says, you better watch out," I told him. "So I have been told by many with a similar spirit to you. So I have been told by your brother," the Titan replied.

My brother? He has seen my long lost kid brother Jason? I had to know where for future reference. "Don't listen to him Thalia, he's just messing with your head like he always takes pleasure in doing," the familiar voice of Chiron said to me. "Oh am I Chiron?" Prometheus asked.

"Yes you are now stay away from her, you understand?" Chiron demanded. "So was I messing with your head when I told you that you had a half-brother by Cronus? Was I messing with your head when I told you that that half-brother had managed to kill Tethys with his bare hands or defeat Hyperion in single combat?" Prometheus inquired. "I… I have… nothing to say there and that was in the past, when you could actually have been trusted," Chiron said, hesitant.

But Prometheus didn't cool off there, instead going further into Gabriel's exploits. "Also, was I messing with your head when I reported that Gabriel was destined to become a knight of Olympus? Was I messing with your head when I told you he would choose to serve Helios, Selene, and Eos (the last of whom, he fell in love with if I recall correctly)?" Prometheus continued. "Silence, you are our prisoner and will stop this talk this very instant!" Chiron commanded.

"Their prisoner yes but not yours for you have in no way earned the right to call me your prisoner," Prometheus said. Chiron then turned and shot an arrow at him but I had a feeling that the smile on Prometheus' face meant that this was what he had been aiming for. Prometheus caught the arrow with telekinesis just before it reached the area between his eyes and burst it into flame before turning it around and sending back to Chiron.

"You think I've been meaning to destroy this camp? I only wanted to lure Gabriel into a final confrontation with me," Prometheus said. "Well too bad that you'll never get that chance unless he says so now," I replied. "He will want to destroy me once and for all, I know him well enough to know that to be true," Prometheus said to me.

Just then, Gabriel flew in with Nico and Percy in each arm as well as Annabeth riding on a horse below them. When Gabriel was just barely floating above the ground, he let go of Percy and Nico then guided himself to a soft landing on his feet. Annabeth dismounted the horse and I thought that that was the worst mistake that she could ever make. When she got close to the enclosure of demigods, Prometheus attacked again and created a massive wave of telekinetic energy that swept all of his captors away except her.

"You know Mr. Jackson, I have always wondered how best to catch you at your worst. Now I know just from the smell of her that Annabeth Chase is closest to your heart besides your mother. Therefore, I think (whether you mind or not I truly don't care) I'll take her for a little ride into the Heart of Tartarus; follow if you dare!" Prometheus said. Percy lunged for him and managed to stop him long enough for me to generate a lightning bolt that could stop the Titan. But he dodged it and threw Percy off before knocking me into the Hypnos cabin and opening a wide and deep fissure for his devious little scheme.


	52. Percy: Annabeth's Capture By Prometheus

**Percy: Nico and I witness Annabeth's capture by Prometheus and**

**Gabriel's departure**

After creating the fissure, dealing with me, Thalia, and the army, Prometheus grabbed Annabeth and proceeded toward the edge of the fissure. "Follow me into the Heart of Tartarus if you dare do so, Percy Jackson!" he mocked. Then he jumped into the fissure and to my amazement, I heard no scream from Annabeth but I did hear her tell me not to do it. Tell you the truth of it all, I was so confused and my desire to jump in after her was overwhelming all of my rational reason.

Then I broke down and ran for the fissure before Gabriel slammed into me with the momentum of a professional football player. The blow and the push after it were enough to bring me down long enough for him to pin both my arms behind my back. "No Percy, you wouldn't survive a minute (never mind the time it would take you to rescue her) in Tartarus' evil Heart," he told me. "I don't care, just let me have a chance to save Annabeth from that wicked man!" I shouted.

"No, it's too dangerous to have you go after him, I'll go. He's baiting us to see who we'll send and he hopes it's you so he can eliminate both of you. Removing both of you from the picture would be almost as good as removing me," Gabriel told me. I began to cry and I hated myself for it but Gabriel assured me that the tears were perfectly fine with him.

"Real men feel emotion but show restraint in when to show their emotions as well as the quantities they release. You're going to be worse than this so kiss any chance of going to Tartarus goodbye. I'll go, I have less to lose than you do and I've got a score to settle with Prometheus anyway," he added. "What makes you think you'll have a better chance than I would and I know it's not just that?" I asked him.

"I think this is what was meant by the prophecy of my destiny. Would you like to hear it, Percy?" he replied. I nodded and I also asked if he could let go of me. "That I can't do since I know what you'll do but here's the prophecy anyway," he said.

"_The son of Cronus, shall bring the destruction of archaic and rebellious gods. He shall be the most powerful being to exist on the face of the Earth. But to be brought closest to the light of Creation, he must first fall into the darkness of Destruction_," he recited. "Closest to the light of Creation is Olympus and the Darkness of Destruction is the Heart of Tartarus," I said.

"That's what I think it may be and I've already gotten the rest nailed down. That was the one that always got me though when I was a kid. Now I'm eighteen and I'm about to go fulfill the last part of the prophecy if I'm allowed to fall into Tartarus," he said. "Let me go now, we both know you're the one to go," I demanded.

"I'll let you go but I'll still have Thalia hold you back in case you get any ideas," Gabriel said. Thalia came over and took over for Gabriel while he went to Chiron and whispered for something. "Yes, we have it," Chiron said. He went to the attic of the Big Cabin and came back very quickly with what appeared to be a bit of rope.

"What? That bit of rope isn't going to be nearly enough to get you down there safely," I said. "Shut up Percy, your eyes deceive you to the fact that this is Orion's belt as in _the _belt that the giant Orion wore. It can stretch for any amount of time and it is easy to make it stretch, which is even more fun about it," Gabriel replied.

"Gabriel, tie one end to your waist and I'll hold on to the rest as you make the jump," Chiron said. Gabriel did as he was told and strapped one end to his waist while Chiron grabbed the other and moved with him towards the edge of the fissure. Just by looking at the fissure, I could tell that it extended hundreds if not thousands if not hundreds of thousands of miles into the earth. I wondered how Gabriel was going to be successful in getting down there without the belt pulling him back up and sending him flying into Olympus.

And that was something I even asked him myself before he jumped. "It doesn't work like that Percy, it just stretches to a length and then stops once it's not being stretched. The cool thing about this is we'll be having Briares help pull us up when I tug on the belt three times, like so," he said before demonstrating. "But how can we be certain that you'll even return?" I asked.

"You can't be," he answered. "Don't you dare leave without giving me a kiss goodbye," someone said to Gabriel. We all turned in the direction of the voice to see that it was Eos who had uttered the words. Gabriel laughed briefly and went over to her with Chiron following, fulfilling her wish being the first thing in mind.

"I almost forgot my beloved Eos, how rude of me forget about thee whose light warms my heart at the mention of thy name," Gabriel said. "Oh stop it Gabriel, you're just flattering me so that you can get more than just a kiss off me," Eos replied. "Nonsense, why would I do such a thing to the goddess of the dawn herself when she can probably see through me?" Gabriel asked. "To try and do what all men do and get more out of woman than a kiss," Eos answered.

"Oh come on, we both know I'm not like that," he said before trapping her in a hug. She giggled and hugged him back, even giving his ass a squeeze for us to see with her hands. He squeezed hers back quickly but Gabriel swiftly and gently brought them to the point before they got too swept away by their love. "Do you really have to go?" Eos asked.

"Yes, I have to. Percy isn't powerful enough to survive the perils of Tartarus and I have a bone to pick with that son of a bitch," Gabriel answered. "You keep cursing around me and I'm going to have to rinse your mouth out," Eos told him. "Too bad no one's done a good job otherwise I'd be talking in perfect verse," Gabriel replied before both of them began laughing.

"Now shut up and kiss me before we waste any more time, you fool! You got niece to save who happens to be your nephew's gal," Eos ordered. Smiling, he slowly and passionately obeyed her as they shared a kiss that told you it was their last but had no rush in it. It was rather savory and I couldn't believe I didn't do that with Annabeth more often but when you're a mortal, you never know when you might die.

Gabriel then whispered something to her, probably goodbye, before returning to the fissure that Prometheus had made and was keeping open somehow. Maybe he hadn't reached Tartarus and Gabriel could get to her before they were even halfway to the entrance point. Gabriel himself took his time getting back to the widest and deepest part of it then slowly extended a foot over the edge. "All of you, before I go, I have only one request should Annabeth and I both die: remember us," he said.

And just like that, he made the plunge down the fissure and out of our lives once more to retrieve Annabeth. But for some strange reason, I felt glad rather than sad that he had departed again but it was probably for my own selfish reasons. Think about it, even though I had done wonderful deeds for the Camp, they paled in comparison to what he had done. When I was still getting used to fighting like a Greek, he was already killing full-fledged gods with a variety of tactics from bare hands to swords.

And though I had Annabeth to consider as my love interest, he had the love of an immortal goddess! Plus, even though the Curse of Achilles increased my speed and stamina in every way, it left me exhausted. He outdid the greatest feats the Curse could allow me to do and he barely broke a sweat accomplishing those feats! Okay, so I sound a bit jealous but I am jealous to tell you the truth.

Now I was watching him go off to save _my _girlfriend at the insistence that the horrors at the Heart would destroy me. Sad thing is, he probably was right about that since that's where you never knew whether or not a power like the Curse could keep you safe. In fact since a primordial goddess inadvertently invented the curse, there was the possibility that other primordial deities could destroy you in their territory. And that goddess was named Styx, yes like the river of which she is the namesake, who had been very powerful back in her day plus the first goddess to side with Zeus in the war against the Titans until her untimely demise during it.

But I had heard that before she passed on, she embedded the river with her strength and that had been her invincibility save at one point in her body. Then when the Titans discovered she no longer had that power by killing her, they likely scoured the universe for it in the knowledge she hid it somewhere. My guess is they just never looked in the right direction because they certainly didn't find any sign of it until the days of Achilles for whom the curse is named after. All of that is beside the point but I felt like I should just get that out of my system and I'm thankful I actually learned something from all Annabeth's little lectures to me.

Then it hurt even more to know that she was the one taken down to Tartarus and not me. I guess it's just my fatal flaw talking but I would rather have taken her place for Prometheus' little trip to that dark and evil place. Okay, so that definitely sounded like my fatal flaw that I care too much for others talking indeed. But this was a time where it could get the better of me and I had to wonder if Gabriel even _had _a fatal flaw.

That's when Eos seemed to read my mind and say that he did have a fatal flaw. "What is it?" I asked. "He fears the past and will not confront it lest it be wishing insanity. Hopefully, he can overcome it in the Heart of Tartarus or else either you never see your loved one again or he does not return to me or both," she answered.

"Let's see what happens when he gives us the signal that he has successfully rescued her. Assuming he's even alive to give us that signal when we hope to get it from him," I said to her. "I have faith that he will survive long enough to see to it that Annabeth returns to you at the very least. Be grateful he's done this you know, he could very easily have just let you die," Eos said before disappearing.

That was true, I had to admit that that could very easily have been the case but I still felt somewhat resentful. "True but that doesn't change the fact that I should be down there in his place, rescuing Annabeth as is fitting for my place as her boyfriend," I said. "Perhaps and then, perhaps not but I would advise a prayer to the more powerful gods for luck in case you're wrong?" Eos asked. I knew better than to make her mad and nodded my head before beginning a prayer. Let me put it this way: I simply requested Gabriel and Annabeth's safety during this whole affair with the Heart of Tartarus to Zeus.


	53. RotT: HoT Pt2:Title & Table of Contents

Revenge of the Titans

The Heart of Tartarus

Part II

By

Christopher Cleveland

**Table of Contents**

**Annabeth: Falling into Tartarus and fighting my enemy simultaneously (not advised)**

**Gabriel: Following the Titan and the Three Tests at the Heart of Tartarus**

**Annabeth: Escaping Tartarus as Gabriel finally took his revenge**

**Gabriel: Avenging my family at last and the destruction of the Heart of Tartarus**

**Thalia: Starting a search for Gabriel after the siege's end**

**Nico: Finding Gabriel at the edge of Tartarus and his metamorphosis**

**Percy: Zeus' offer to Gabriel, a brief reunion, and saying goodbye**

**Thalia: Leading the service dedicated to Gabriel**

**Annabeth: Gabriel returns to me briefly in an Iris-message**

**Percy: Looking at the horizon to the new day and the new age of gods and men**


	54. Annabeth: Fall Into Tartarus

**Annabeth: Falling into Tartarus and fighting my enemy simultaneously (not advised)**

Before I had even known what the hell was happening, I was in the clutches of Prometheus like a mouse clutched by a hawk. The only difference is, the thing the damned Titan was clutching me as was a winged demon and I still had hope of escape whereas a mouse under the grip of a hawk had no hope. Whether it was through luck or just sheer desperation, I remembered that I had my knife in my back pocket and if I managed to reach it then I might stand a chance of escape. Only problem once I escaped his grasp would be how the hell to get back up since I couldn't see any pursuers from where I was.

I figured that if there was anyone pursuing me, they could catch me before I even needed to find a way to hold on until they arrived. However, thanks to my training, I was a good rock-climber and could hold out until someone came since when you do the math, it's faster falling down than climbing up. So I managed to slither my hand down to my waist where my knife was and just barely avoided having it slip from my hand and fall ahead of us into the abyss below. After that I slither my hands and arms out of the grasp of Prometheus before lunging back and making the plunge that would free me if it was done right.

Sure enough, I managed to get a tendon and make Prometheus roar with pain as he let me go. I somehow managed to calculate the amount of air flowing beneath me because I could somehow keep myself much farther down than Prometheus as we descended down to Tartarus. But as we continued our fall, Prometheus began to swoop forward and under me so that he could grab me with one of his big hands again. _Oh shit, this time I know I'm not going to get a lucky chance to make him let go if he gets me again _I thought to myself.

So remembering those movies Thalia used to watch about skydiving before she started fearing heights, I poked my belly out in the style of a skydiver and was immediately lifted out of his reach. It was just barely out of those claws which got a little of my clothing but enough for a major rip. Now my problem was safely landing on some grabbing rocks at this momentum that was only slowed a little. Then it occurred to me that my knife was strong enough to penetrate rock and I could use it to halt my fall if I stabbed just deeply enough.

I moved toward the walls and was about to stab the rock just before he grabbed me again below the line of my breasts. Luckily, I had my knife out yet again and I stabbed his hand again to free myself. But this time, he didn't let go easy and I had to keep stabbing until I found a cartilage link in his finger that if stabbed could cause enough pain in his finger for him to let me go. He did precisely that when I struck the tendon I had targeted and attempted to slow myself unto the rock before he slapped my legs and made me slam my face into a nice, round piece of rock and spin three hundred and sixty degrees at least seven times.

That was before I slammed onto his chest and then the perfect idea hit me: to stab him here until I had reached his heart. It was now possible I could potentially end this crisis with one swift stroke of my blade if I aimed just right. But I had no time to aim so I just starting randomly stabbing, ichor gushing out at every single one like regular blood. I was careful not to get any on my since it would have the same effect as acid on my skin if it got on me.

Now don't worry, only Titans' blood does that not the blood of Olympian gods but that's beside the point. Then I decided to move for his brain since I figured I'd have an easier time doing that and it was a good thing too since I dodged him bringing down a hand to swat me and grab me again. Carefully and with the skill of a fox, I moved up his neck, over his chin, across his mouth although I barely avoided being chomped in half, and arrived at a spot I designated as the best stop just barely above his nose and between his eyes. That was when his hand moved too fast for me to dodge it and I was smashed under it for a few seconds and grabbed so that I couldn't escape again.

Or so I thought until it turned out there was just one more option: stab into the palm of Prometheus. Only problem with that option is I ran the risk of cutting myself in the process but it was a chance I knew I had to take. "Hmm, you are more of a fight than I had anticipated but it makes little difference to me. Especially since your uncle follows down here just as I anticipated although I hoped for your boyfriend," Prometheus said to me.

Sure enough, I saw Gabriel following after me with something tied around him to keep him from being lost once he fell in. I realized later on that it was the original Orion's Belt that he wore across his waist and was using as rope for his descent into Tartarus with us. Prometheus shot at him with a couple blasts of fire but Gabriel tugged his way through them all while simultaneously protecting the belt from Prometheus' magic which could potentially undo it. "Damn, neither he nor Thalia quit when they get fighting," Prometheus said to me.

"What do you mean about Thalia?" I asked. "Oh that's easy to explain: she challenged me to a fight and nearly lost but her relentlessness helped her gain the victory. She did not even have a plan for fighting me except to distract me from the Cyclopes that were my original target and your aid," he answered. I couldn't believe Thalia would do that willingly; did she?  
I asked Prometheus precisely that and he said that it was more than likely a combination of willingness to do it as well as Percy giving her a cue to do so. What the _hell_? Seaweed Brain let Thalia endanger herself fighting against Prometheus _alone _just so he could win a strategic victory! I guess I should admit that the only reason I am angry is because it was Thalia but then I realized it was strategically necessary and Thalia was the only in Gabriel's absence who could even stand up to him.

Plus if we were to survive and Gabe left after the Camp was secured, she'd be the only one to brag that she fought him and lived to tell about it. But it wasn't really a fight so much as avoiding getting her ass handed to her by a rogue Titan. Okay that was mean but after hearing about how Gabriel tore Tethys' head off with his bare hands, I feel like everything else that wasn't done by him is insignificant. This was no time to be thinking about that but it still gnawed at my mind: the sheer power Gabriel would have had to do that could only come from his darkest emotions.

I'd hate to see him enraged, especially if he could kill gods with his rage and enough physical strength. Truthfully, I would rather be here fighting Prometheus right now but that was before he decided to do something entirely different. He grabbed me then flipped back over and dived down at a faster than before. "Before we reach Tartarus answer me this question: how does a child of Athena fight fear itself?" he asked.


	55. Gabriel: Three Tests At The Heart

**Gabriel: Following the Titan and the Three Tests at the Heart of Tartarus**

Despite throwing several portions of rock that he carved out of the walls at me, Prometheus didn't throw nearly as many as I anticipated. But that wasn't exactly the biggest issue when we were quickly reaching the Underworld and the dead watched as we traveled into the skies of Tartarus and towards the pit where the Heart was located at. The biggest issue was keeping the Furies from cutting the belt and sending me spiraling to my death in the fires of torment by simply calling on some of the power of the Sky Sword for a lightning bolt here or a gust of wind there. Nonetheless, all three converged on me and before I knew it, I was fighting for my life against the three guardians of Tartarus but luckily, I had some of my father's skill of telekinesis immediately available to use against them.

After throwing the Furies off with relative ease, I continued to follow Prometheus until he glided into the Pit where the Titans used to be trapped before Khronos (as the deity killed by Percy turned out to be) rebelled against Zeus. Then I made it so that the belt could launch me and itself into the pit and continue following Prometheus even deeper than I had ever been before. "You follow me to your death Gabriel but perhaps your mother would like a few words with you before you die!" Prometheus taunted. That made me remember what Little Mary had said when I freed her from Hyperion's prison just the other day.

My mother was down here and I had to ask myself if she was even sane after nearly eighteen years trapped here. Was it even possible to remain sane in the most insane the place in all Creation itself? Were the extremities on her mind enough to make her kill me if Prometheus ordered her to? The sad thing was that I could only find out by going into the Heart of Tartarus where only she and my father had been sent around the time I was one or two.

It was a wonder to know she had even survived all these years but if she were still sane… Now that would be an even more amazing wonder than knowing she survived. Long had been the fall into the pit and longer still was the descent to the very bottom of it where all the hells of the universe would reside in one place. I was headed for the center of all evil in the dominion of gods and mortals, man and woman, peace and war; the place that was (as Dante would have put it) farthest place in all of Creation from the divine Olympian Light.

The place that was also the residence of the deity also called Tartarus who had created evil long ago. I knew I was approaching the Heart when I saw an orange-red light emanate from the bottom of the tunnel and it grew bigger as I inched rapidly forward into it. And I fell first not into fire but into a frozen wasteland like that depicted for the bottom of Dante's Inferno. The ice was not covered with the heads and bodies of those frozen in it and I guessed that was because any souls who were sent here, even the ones of the Titans, would be overcome with madness and then obliterated if they were sent here.

It's funny to think that it's easier for one of the dead to go mad than it is for one of the living. I just hoped that I would have proof of that actually being true when I got out of here. At first, nothing happened but I did see Prometheus fly over a gate that probably led into the rest of the Heart so I followed him there. And just when I was wondering how to get in, a beam shot from the glass circle in the middle of the gate and I barely had enough time to put up my left arm in defense of myself like it was always good for.

The mark extended from just past my elbow to nearly my shoulder when I decided to reflect the power and destroy the circle of glass. It worked like a charm and the whole beam turned from its orange, flaming look to a golden, precise beam of deflected energy that not only destroyed the glass but also caused the gates to open. Instead of any direction toward or opposite me, the doors each went horizontal and dug into the rock. Prometheus laughed as soon as I walked to and through the opening and congratulated me for completing the first and simplest test of the three in the very heart of Hell itself.

"Oh don't bother with trying to name this evil for it is beyond the comprehension of your mortal mind. Hell is but a word compared to what I could summon from the source of all this power! And what I was on the surface can be amplified as many times as I wish with the disembodied power of Tartarus himself. When I am finished with you, I shall return to the mortal world with this power and destroy the Olympians; not even your mighty brother Zeus will stand a chance against me," Prometheus taunted.

"I'll be the judge of that Prometheus, because I'm still alive," I replied. "Oh but how long can that remain in this place before your mind is eaten completely alive by the life that resides in this deathly place?" Prometheus asked. Then I heard the voice of a woman calling my name and asking if it was me she saw. A shiver came down my spine for I knew that was the voice of my mother just from the fat it wasn't Annabeth's voice.

"Mom, where are you?" I asked. "Look behind you and you will see me, see what I have become," the voice answered. Slowly, as if I thought Prometheus was merely imitating her, I turned behind me and sure enough, I saw a woman older than me chained in the same way Little Mary had been with barely enough cloth to cover her private parts. She also had plenty of scars from head to toe that seemed to be symbolic of her time in this curse place.

"Hello Gabriel, we meet at last for the first time in nearly twenty years. Look at you, as I had told your father, you have become truly a man," she said to me. "Mother, I'm going to free you from this place!" I said, running over to her to try and break the chains. "The only way you can free me is if you confront your father and destroy him," she said.

"What? He's here with you, I thought he would have escaped by now?" I asked. "No one escapes from this place, not even immortals as powerful as him. Kill him and you free me but be warned: Prometheus will fuel him with the strength of your fear and guilt. Overcome your fears and your guilt for what has happened to you and you will have more than enough power to overcome your father," she explained as he began to materialize from one of the corpses that surrounded us in what appeared to be a battlefield.

When he completed his materialization, I knew it was him from what I remembered of what he looked like as well as how he was described to me by Eos and Hestia. "Hello my son, so glad you could come down here with enough fear and guilt for me to use their amplified power to supply me with strength as I destroy you. It'll be just as easy as it was to create you now that you have thirteen years of guilt and twelve years of fear to fuel me," Cronus greeted me. "I _will _confront my fears father and I _will _destroy you if that's indeed what it'll take to rescue my mom," I told him.

"Doubtful, for even if you kill me, Prometheus will find a way to make you lose her anyway. That is why I chose him for my plan to destroy both of the Olympian worlds," Cronus said to me. I hesitated when he said both worlds but I immediately launched an aggressive attack on him before he could sow anymore conflict into me. At first, nothing more than a display of equaled strength was shown by both of us and I had no idea how long it went on since there was no sense of time down here.

Then Cronus used a pulse of telekinesis to throw me down to the ground before teleporting so that he was just above me. He then placed a foot on my stomach and attempted to squash my innards to oblivion. Instead of that though, I stabbed him in the leg with the Sky Sword and managed to get him off me long enough for me to stand up again. "You will pay for that dearly but just so you know, it's always a pleasure to take a brave man's life," Cronus said.

"Even when it's your own son you're trying to kill?" I asked. "_Especially _if it's my own son because it was my own son who overthrew me and nearly cast me into this place! It was my son who put Atlas to the Heavens until his recent release and death at Mount Orthys. And it is my own son who stands against me now and is threatening to destroy all that I have attempted to create _for him_!" Cronus answered.

"What are you trying to create beside a world so afraid of me that they don't even think about me? Why would I want to live in a world where I was the almighty ruler of the universe only through sheer force and brutality?" I asked. "You're as stubborn as your brothers and sisters but not to worry, I'll get to them soon enough," Cronus told me. "That's not going to happen because you can't escape without my power and the only way to obtain it is to kill me," I said to him.

"That's just the way I like it too and I _will _reclaim my rightful place as ruler of the universe. My path will be paved by the sins and fears of man while yours, Gabriel, will be the bedrock of it all. Soon, all that is 'good' shall be banished to Chaos forever!" Cronus declared with intensity like no other. For a moment, I had nothing to say as he waved the recovered sword Backbiter like he had already won the battle.

Then I realized something that I never knew in my life: if I couldn't forgive myself, I could be forgiven by the souls of those in my family who died by Prometheus' hand. Quickly, I chanted a spell that hopefully would call them since some of them were actually in Tartarus from what I heard of them and they in turn could call the rest to my aid. Then I said aloud to him that he couldn't do that just yet and say that I remembered the power to use the souls of those of my past to free myself from my fears and guilt. "Uncle, Aunt, Cousins, Grandmother, Grandfather, Ancestors, absolve me!" I shouted and just then the souls of all those who were related to my mother and had died shot through and out of me.

They made their way to Cronus and each of them shot him hard like a machine gun bullet. Each time they hit him, I saw that his power shrunk and shrunk until at last, none of it was related to my fear and guilt. I had at last overcome what had haunted me the most in my past and now I was ready to kill the man who represented it all. "Wait, that power; we can use it together!" he said.

I continued toward him with the Sky Sword in spite of a brief hesitation this gave me. "You and I, father and son, just think of what we could achieve!" he said. "I think I'll pass on that one," I told him. "But I can reunite you with Eos and Little Mary and together, we will rule the universe!" he begged in a last ditch effort to survive.

"It's not going to happen, Cronus and what's more, I will send you into oblivion for all you've done," I hissed at him. Then I stabbed him in the space that was half up the throat and half on the chest, cutting several arteries, including a vital connection to the heart. When I took the sword back out, he fell on his back instantly. The flash of light that signified his death washed over the entire area and even burned into my mother's chains enough to free her.

She fell and although I was kind of embarrassed that she did, I figured it wasn't as painful as some of the things she went through while here with my father. Anyway, I lifted her up although she didn't help any and hugged her the moment I knew she wasn't going to collapse once standing up. "Sorry son, I haven't walked in these feet since you were a very little kid," she said to me. "Believe me, I'd rather be with you not walking than be without you whether you could or couldn't," I told her.

"How sentimental especially when you consider she never will walk again," Prometheus said. And just like that he took my mother from me again and almost completely threw her off a cliff that Annabeth was already holding on to for dear life. I ran to both of them and caught each of them in one arm. But now I was between a rock and a hard place though I didn't want to admit it at the time.

"Choose your sacrifice Gabriel for the one who dies shall destroy the deity known as Tartarus. That bright light below is the Heart itself and only the soul of a freshly dead demigod or associate of the gods can destroy it," Prometheus said. "Gabriel, you have to save this girl next to me or else Prometheus will have won," my mother said. Annabeth said nothing and watched as the events transpired according to Prometheus' sick design.

"No, I'm not losing you again! I'm losing neither of you!" I shouted to her. "What can you do? You can't lift us both up," my mother asked.

I told her I could but I wasn't fooling anybody right then, not even myself no matter how much I would have wanted to deny it. "Gabriel, someone else loves this girl. I can tell by the way her expression looks because it was the same way I used to look at your father before I knew he was the evil king of the Titans," my mother told me. "What is your point mother?" I asked her.

"You have to get her back to her man or else you won't be the hero this man probably believes you to be. But you do have to destroy the Heart of Tartarus so I won't make you choose," my mother answered. "No, I'm not losing you again!" I repeated. "You never lost me Gabriel, I lost you when I was flung into Tartarus with your father," my mother told me.

Before I could ask her what she meant, she let go of my hand and began the plunge into the Heart itself. I screamed and cried more than I had in a long time after I took my free arm and exerted my strength into pulling Annabeth up. Though I felt Annabeth's arms wrap around me and her head rest against mine before she pulled mine to her breasts, there was no comfort for that deep pain at my mother's sacrifice. And it certainly made me feel no better when I saw the orange-red fire of Tartarus clash with my mother's bluish-white flames before dying with a rumble felt beneath our feet as well as a final, fiery explosion from below the ledge of the cliff.

"I'm sorry Gabriel, I wish I could have done something to help," Annabeth said to me. "You couldn't have done much even if you could do anything," I told her. Then I picked her up and took a bit of a walk back to Orion's belt. It was after that little walk that I was able to overcome my grief long enough to fulfill my true destiny.


	56. Annabeth: Escaping Tartarus Without Gabe

**Annabeth: Escaping Tartarus as Gabriel finally took his revenge**

After arriving back at the only means of escaping this forsaken place, Gabriel did something I never would have expected. He tied my waist to the belt and yanked three times, which I was guessing was the signal for me to ascend. "What the hell are you doing?" I asked. "Finishing some unfinished business on the part of Prometheus and believe me, it's better than letting him escape with anything," he answered.

"Wait, you can forget him Gabriel! Once we escape from here, he's trapped for eternity," I told him. I knew that had to be true because Cronus would certainly have escaped by now if he had found a way to do so. If Cronus couldn't escape then how would Prometheus be able to unless his ability with premonition somehow gave him an advantage over Cronus?

"This was always my destiny Annabeth, to kill Prometheus for what he did to my family. Titans tend to overestimate themselves and though he himself isn't one, Khronos the god of time serves as an example of what I mean. No, this time I am not letting him slip from me because he _must _pay," Gabriel said to me. "But he will be trapped here as your father was when he took your mother here, there's no sense in continuing the fight when you've already won!" I said to him.

"The Olympians have won but not me. I still have a personal battle to fight before I die. By the way Annabeth, call me 'Uncle Gabe'; I like the sound of it more than I like 'Gabriel'," Gabriel replied. Then I was yanked up into the upper world and was ascending faster than I could react. I knew no signal that would stop the ascent so I watched helplessly as Gabriel turned his sword and focus back to Prometheus.

Sad as it is to confess it, I never saw him again on this Earth after that little trip to Tartarus. In fact, that was probably the most difficult secret I have ever had to confess in my life. I would see him again sure but at the time, I didn't know that so I thought he was going to die or at least be trapped in Tartarus for gods know how long. Before there was only the walls of the passage that had brought me there, I saw the beginning moves of the duel that would seal their fates and then I saw only the tunnels where I had Prometheus.

To think I would hold my own against a Titan that nearly killed Thalia, a daughter of Zeus, would have been unimagined. Especially when he threw at least six large spiders my way when we arrived at the Heart of Tartarus. While Gabriel had three tests, mine had been on how a child of Athena fights fear itself and that had been put to me in the form of spiders. So when I got to the top and Percy was the first man I saw when I returned, I untied myself quickly and jumped into his arms.

I was flooding his face with kisses and whispers that I loved him. He would whisper back that he loved me and that was before Chiron raised an eyebrow to us and everyone in the camp that saw couldn't keep from smirking. "If you two are finished, you might want to turn around and notice that the crack has practically disappeared already," Chiron said. To my surprise, he was telling the truth but that wasn't the only thing I noticed.

The damage to the Camp, including what had been caused in Thalia's fight with Prometheus, had been fully repaired and dinner plates were being set at the dining pavilion. "Wait, don't you even want to devote any time to setting up a search party for Gabriel? I mean, there is still a chance we can save him although he's down in Tartarus," I asked. "Let Fate decide that one for us but in the meantime, eat," Chiron answered.

I found no heart to eat without Gabriel around to make everyone in the room laugh. And I don't think anybody else could either since there was very little talking that night.


	57. Gabriel: Settling The Score At Last

**Gabriel: Avenging my family at last and the destruction of the Heart of Tartarus**

Prometheus and I dueled fiercely and for a long time after I made sure that Annabeth had left Tartarus on Orion's Belt. I frequently called on the powers of the Sky Sword in order to stop him from calling upon massive amounts of telekinetic energy for the purpose of crushing me. It was a good thing I was that smart too since he would collect the energy then amplify it with the slowly dying powers of Tartarus. "It doesn't seem so infinite now that my mother's given herself to destroying the Heart now does it?" I asked him.

"Mock me while you can still enjoy it mortal for I have only to wait a little longer before you no longer even laugh," Prometheus answered. I asked him what he meant and he began to laugh at how "ignorant" I was. "You see Gabriel, as the Heart has been destroyed by your mother's sacrifice, it is only a matter of time before this whole realm collapses. I only have to divert you until the orange skies of the Heart begin to form large black holes in it that symbolize this place's fall into Oblivion and us with it if my plan for destroying you works," he explained.

Then I understood all at once: he didn't care if he lived or died now. He just wanted to drag me along for the ride if he was going to be destroying in Oblivion. I knew in the snap of a finger that I had to defeat him before it was too late to escape. "Let's make a pact Prometheus: if I win, you channel your power to create an escape portal for me upon your death and if you win, we both die in Oblivion.

"Either way you die but one option allows you to take me with you," I explained, thinking it up on the fly. He smiled and I could tell that though he didn't like the idea of dying a hell of a lot more than I didn't, he liked the fact he had a chance to take me with him. So we continued fighting ferociously, myself wielding the Sky Sword and Prometheus wielding the Black Sword of the Night. Of course, it was empty of power since we managed to undo the blessing but it was still a deadly weapon to fight against all the same.

Long was the battle and hard was it fought, the black holes of Oblivion were becoming massive and some had already connected. Then I made a series of moves that Prometheus would never have anticipated since he never anticipated quick-thinking. I made a series of quick and almost ineffective moves save for the fact that they lowered his guard enough for me to conduct the next phase of the plan: disarm him. Knowing what would happen if I kept going, I decided to charge up the Sky Sword so I could finish off the Black Sword of the Night with one stroke to it.

It was a long charge of power but I knew what I was doing because for one thing, I had used weapons like the Sky Sword before when I was younger. I had to recover the Blade of Zeus and the only way to do so was to trust in the powers of Erebus since Hades had hidden them in a place only darkness could reach: Hecate's Cave of Nightmares. Don't worry, I'll tell about that one some other time but right now, that's not so important. What was important was fighting Prometheus and defeating him before Oblivion occurred for both of us as well as the Heart of Tartarus.

Then, as though reading my thoughts, the Sky Sword finished charging and took my best swing so that Prometheus _had _to deflect the oncoming attack and fall into my plan. For a brief moment, the light on the Sky Sword transferred to the blade of the Black Sword and was so bright, I couldn't see in front of me. Then a fiery explosion repelled us both away from each other but I was back on my feet more quickly than Prometheus was. In fact, I had run around him and placed the Sky Sword so that the back of his neck touched it when he was on his knees.

Sure enough, he backed into the blade like I anticipated and stopped there. "Well done Gabriel Johnson, you have defeated me. But I think I would like to add one additional treat to the sheer delight of having lost and devoted my powers to creating a portal for you upon my death: your future," Prometheus said. "I know you can see the future, so give me the honest and clean version," I told him.

"Right to the point, I like that in a man, because this is not by any means clean nor even pleasant though it will start that way. You will escape this place now with my head in one hand and the Sky Sword in the other. However, you will not return with your mortal essence; you shall become a god as you have always feared and everything after that shall be fraught with pain. Your future is one that spirals toward Oblivion though here it will not be.

"A long time ago, Cronus, myself, and the mother of the Titans herself saw a possibility for eliminating the Olympians that the others were either to arrogant, too blind, or too stupid to exploit. As you know, Gaea created the Gigantes for the sole purpose of restoring the Titans to rule of the universe," Prometheus explained. Abruptly, I pointed out that they were some of the first deities I learned about when I studied under Eos. "Very good, and you will also remember from your lessons that only through a union with a mortal (in that case, Hercules) could the gods hope to stand any chance of defeating the Gigantes.

"When Zeus imprisoned them, he cursed them never to be released unless a soul of pure light and meant for Elysium was to destroy the Heart of Tartarus. Your mother was that pure soul and her sacrifice means the return of the Gigantes. The gods will fall now that they are free for they are much stronger than ever before. Combining forces with the demigods alone will not be enough to stop the Gigantes now and we knew that when Gaea, Cronus, and I agreed to form a confidential triumvirate that was hell-bent on unleashing the Gigantes in the likely event that the Titans failed.

"My ability to see the future guided us out of nearly every single misstep. Besides your stay with the Olympians and Cronus' banishment to this place, everything has proceeded as planned. But you know, I can only predict the future and as you know, those who can predict the future are _never _allowed to act directly to intervene. Which means there is still hope for the gods and the mortals against the Gigantes but if you are to help them anyway, you'll have to kill me and use my power to form a portal," he finished.

Grasping the cold hilt of the Sky Sword very tightly, I felt invincible. I knew that my lifelong goal of destroying the Titan Prometheus was coming to end. There was no need to rush it and I most certainly did not rush as I slowly raised the sword for the stroke that would take off Prometheus' head. I held it there for what seemed to be hours and I could barely contain the excitement of my destiny at last being achieved.

Then I could hold it no longer and swung down with all the force in my body. Prometheus' head flew off his neck and rolled away from one of his knees briefly. While it lied there, the rest of his body began to explode with grey fire that shot all the way back to the start of the Heart of Tartarus and created a portal (as promised) while Oblivion was closer and closer to reality. I grabbed Prometheus' head and made a dash for it, seeing how Oblivion was eating away at the rocks of the Heart and eating at the very essence. A couple of times, a few shots from Oblivion hit me and some of my mortal essence was lost in the blasts but it didn't matter.

I was close to the portal now and I had nearly lost all of my mortal essence, Oblivion all around me now and annihilation certain. But with all the speed and stamina of the gods, I kept going until at last, I reached the portal and escaped the Heart of Tartarus before the rest of it was obliterated from existence. For a brief while, I saw only light as the portal was transporting me to the edge of the normal Tartarus bounds. It was during that time that I was overwhelmed by more pain than I had ever known in my life and I knew it was because that my mortal essence had been wrenched from my body by the hands of Oblivion with the only chance of regaining them being in becoming a god then being made a mortal again.

Then I knew where I was when the light ended: I was back in good old Tartarus but it was not the same now that the Heart, the center of all evil and the domain of the god himself, had been destroyed through my mother's sacrifice. My one true hope was that she could find some measure of peace in the Oblivion that she was now in. If what they said was true and consciousness did not exist in Oblivion nor did any Purgatory, Hell, or Paradise that Dante could describe… I had the feeling that she was fine but at the same time, was overcome by a sense of failure due to the failure to save her.

After all, I was killing gods before I was halfway through my adolescence, traversed more than one plane of existence in search of a traitor of Olympus to bring them to justice, and had even sacrificed all chances at a normal life when Hera came and put me in a form of bondage as punishment for leaving her during one of my missions. I had even seen magic used for evil so phenomenal it would curdle my blood to even get started on the details and had beaten it mostly with sheer strength of mind and matter combined with a natural ingenuity that was characteristic of Cronus' children whether god or mortal or centaur. And now, I was confronting death for the first time of my life but it wasn't anything like what a mortal might experience in death.

Instead, what I realized I was going to experience was the first day of my eternal death. I had never wanted to become a god and yet I had become one regardless of what I had specifically stated to Zeus himself. Slowly, I lifted my arms to see that they had turned completely gold as did my legs and everything between a little bit above and my feet. What remained of my mortal flesh was mostly covered in wounds that bleed until the gold burned the blood to the last cell.

Believe me, that was not the worst part about this whole thing: the worst part was that my blood was being burned everywhere that I had been wounded. Therefore, my wounds were turning to gold and I knew that the fresher skin, though ash-stained, would be gone after that. I felt a burn in my eyes that Zeus said was normal of having the sight of a god so I had a feeling that my eyes were already golden as well. Then there was a tremendous pain in my abdomen and I placed my arm across before limping up the cave of Tartarus and back to the safer parts of the Underworld.

The Sky Sword was slowly becoming heavy for me until I was dragging it behind my back and the only reason I was holding onto was because I knew I'd lose it if I didn't. But when I could go no further, I placed the Sky Sword on one side of me and Prometheus' head on the other before turning around and squatting onto the floor of Tartarus. I noticed that what remained of my chest and shoulders were gone as were my ears and most of my neck. But I figured I could settle down and die peacefully before becoming a god.


	58. Annabeth: Searching For Gabriel

**Thalia: Starting a search for Gabriel after the siege's end**

Now let me get something straight for the record: cleanup was easy and fun considering that the war had been harsh on us all. Okay, that's out of the way, on to the point of this entry which is to explain my next assignment. I was just settling in my cabin, figuring that I needed to be alone after nearly getting my ass whooped by Prometheus in battle when Artemis decided it was a good time to give me a new assignment to go with the Hunters on. This is where I must admit that the only thing I don't like about being lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis is that you never get any rest from a long hunt before you're assigned another.

But this assignment was one I was willing to do immediately were it not for the fact that I _needed _to recuperate before I could do anything. The assignment was to find Gabriel as soon as was possible for according to Artemis, the gods would need him on Olympus. As to why they would need him after they made him work his ass off for them and even journeyed to the Heart of Tartarus itself for the daughter of Athena, I truly did not know nor would dare to inquire about. Artemis said she would be waiting for us in the morning and expected us to be ready the moment she came to our cabins for the search to find the demigod son of Kronos.

After Artemis told me about the new assignment, Eos appeared before me and made me vow on the River Styx that I would do everything in my power to find Gabriel. They had kissed in case Gabriel didn't come back but it wasn't enough for her to have the possibility that he return as great as the possibility that he not return to this world. "Find him Thalia, the gods and demigods of this universe will be needing his new power when the time comes. 'When the time comes', such a pun on what Zeus plans to turn him into," she said before she made to disappear.

"Wait, what do you mean by that?" I asked. I know I probably should not have asked since even the whole of Olympus was scouring the Earth for him but I had to. And as though she were reading my thoughts she answered, "It's perfectly alright to ask but let me put it this way: with Kronos dead, _somebody _has to be the God of Time." Then she left but her message was most amazing: Gabriel, the new god of time itself!

That was incredibly hard to imagine and now I knew I had to find him before anything bad could. I slept that whole night and dreamed only of Gabriel and what could have happened to him down there. At one point, I dreamed he had been obliterated along with Prometheus in the Heart of Tartarus. In another dream, I dreamed he escaped and had simply went off to disappear from the gods forever. And in yet another, I saw him crawling across some dark cavern while most of his body was covered in gold except from his head.

This one was the most clear version of them all and I knew that this was definitely the place where we had to be looking for him. The only problem was: where in all that the Olympians created would such a place as that exist? Artemis ordered us to scatter in four directions since there were thirty-six of us and four teams of nine would cover more ground than one group of four times that many. It went this way for hours with no sign of even a lead as to his whereabouts, never mind Gabriel himself.

Then I prayed to every god I could remember off the tip of my tongue, even Hades, for a clue at least. The next day, Nico was at the door of my cabin and said he had been waiting for a couple of hours. "I know where he is and I can take you there if you'll just keep close to me. Percy and Annabeth have already decided to come," he said before we left for Gabriel's true location which I was surprised to see.


	59. Nico: Seeing Gabriel's Transformation

**Nico: Finding Gabriel at the edge of Tartarus and his metamorphosis**

Taking Thalia to the Underworld, even I was not expecting what I would see next. First, I found her and that was the only expected part of this whole thing considering the rest of what happened. At my father's request, I had brought her and now we were going to Tartarus to find Gabriel where he was still crawling for life. "I feel him slipping away from life and closing in on residence in the Underworld," my Dad said to him.

"Take the chariot, you'll reach him faster," replied Persephone. Hades nodded and we boarded the chariot that was driven by a few hellhounds that though not as big as Mrs. O'Leary were not to be trifled with. He whipped them until they were going top speed and we skipped over Elysium in the snap of a finger, flew over the entire Asphodel Fields, and concluded our little trip at the mouth of Tartarus. From there, the Furies guided us to where they saw (and I'm quoting here) "a man slowly turning into gold crawling along the burning coals on the floor".

They took us to where he was after that and Thalia was the first to run up to him and see if he was all right. I followed and saw that if anything, Gabriel was _far _from all right considering that what remained of his mortal essence was mostly wounded or at least slightly cooked. "Gabriel, what the hell did you do to yourself down there to come back looking like this and carrying the head of Prometheus and the Sky Sword with you?" Thalia asked. "Call… me… Uncle Gabe… would you… please?" Gabriel answered.

I chuckled to myself since Gabriel had previously rejected the title of 'uncle' so to think that he would be telling us to call him that was amusing. The situation wasn't I admit but the fact he was telling us to call him Uncle Gabe was. "Uncle Gabe, please come back to us? I know you can do it if you just try, please try!" Thalia begged.

"It's… over," Gabriel said to her. "No, it isn't over because we still need you!" Thalia yelled at him. "Is… the Camp… safe? Are… Annabeth and… Percy… reunited?" Gabriel asked. Thalia nodded and told her that the Camp was safe _and _that Annabeth and Percy had been reunited once again before we were stunned by his answer.

"Then… it's over," he said. "No Uncle Gabe, you don't know what you're saying," Thalia replied. "Oh… but I… do. All my life… the gods trained me… for one… thing: protecting… others," he began, coughing up some blood as he said it. "He speaks the truth for when he was with Helios and Selene, they taught him his skills but it was Hestia who told him he should use it for humble purposes he's used it for," my Dad said to us. "Don't speak Gabriel, we'll get you to a medic who can make you feel better and a little less deluded," Thalia said.

"No… there is… no… point… in that. Soon, my… mortal… essence will… burn… out… and… my… mortal… heart will… give out… completely," he said to her. "Husband, I think you should tell them that no place in the Underworld will be housing this one anytime soon," Persephone said to Hades in a whispery tone. "Nico, Thalia, perhaps you two should know that when Gabriel's mortal essence burn out and his heart gives way, he'll resurrect as a god," Hades explained to us.

We then noticed that not much remained except a chunk of Uncle Gabriel's forehead and though Hades called Thalia away from him, she would not leave him to rot as she thought he would be doing. It was at that point that I decided to just simply wrench her off him although I was the son of a god that was inferior to her father. She put up a struggle but not quite the struggle I was anticipating since she came with me after which my dad and my stepmother covered our eyes before covering their own. "Let's put it this way, you might not want to be looking directly at the light of his transformation as it happens," my dad said to me.

Our hearts began to increase in speed in anticipation of this fateful event of Gabriel's transformation. "We gods have never experienced this sort of thing, even with Heracles' metamorphosis into the constellation," Hades said. I guess that was meant to explain why he and Persephone covered their eyes as well and turned us so that their backs faced Gabriel as the last of his mortal essence burned out and he drew his last breath. But before that happened, we heard him say that he was so glad to see us one last time as well as kiss Eos again before this happened.

For a few seconds, there was nothing but pure darkness since Hades and Persephone cloaked us in a shroud of darkness. Then suddenly, we started seeing forks of light that pierced slightly through the cloak and burned their way into the ground beside our feet. I asked Thalia if she was seeing this too and she said she was but what none of us were seeing was that Gabriel's color began to return to him. Not only that but we also missed out on the fact that he became more muscular and masculine looking than any bodybuilder we had seen on TV with a dick to match (I don't know why I mentioned that besides the fact I thought maybe some girls might read this entry and wonder what it'd be like to share Gabriel's bed if I did mention it).

When the light passed over us, we were surprised to find bits of burnt flesh floating all around us. I recognized it for the flesh of the souls of the dead and I asked my dad what had happened. "You would not believe me if I explained it," he said to me. I told him that I was willing to hear and believe anything about that bit of light that passed over us.

However, I was dumbfounded to find out that Gabriel's light had destroyed all of the souls in the Asphodel except a few as well as all but a few in Tartarus. None in Elysium had looked at the light and thus remained safe from the power of the new god. "If only the transformation of a mortal in a god was a little less glamorous," said a voice we were not expecting to hear again: Gabriel's. Thalia ran up to him until she saw that he was naked but Hades assured him he would fix that instantly by handing him his cloak.

Gabriel gathered a couple things off the ground and I realized these were the treasures of his past. One was the ring he wore when he married Nadine, another was the ring he gave her when he proposed, and the last was the Sky Sword as well as the helmet of his suit of armor. "Oh we'll have to recreate your armor but that won't be a problem," Persephone said before snapping her fingers. Sure enough, plates of gold faded into existence with black underclothes and gloves underneath them.

After that my dad took us back to Camp Half-Blood and told Gabriel that someone wanted to see him when he arrived. At first, I thought he meant Percy but then I realized that having become a god, Zeus would want to see Gabriel. I asked if I could join along and he told me that I would have to for what was going to transpire next. "Gabriel's departure from Earth and ascent to Olympus should not be missed by anyone of his choice, especially if that is a son of Hades," he said before returning to the Underworld with Persephone.

I ran as fast as I could to where the Zeus' Fist was (that was where Persephone teleported Thalia so she could rendezvous with Annabeth and Percy for this) and was out of breath by the time I arrived. Gabriel remained at the base of the mound and Zeus began to ascend to its top. When it arrived, I stood as erect as I could in case he called upon me for anything special. I never had a clue as to something good that would happen next nor had it ever happened to me before in any sort of way from anybody else I've had in my life.


	60. Percy: Zeus' Offer & Saying Goodbye

**Percy: Zeus' offer to Gabriel, a brief reunion, and saying goodbye**

Zeus ascended down from Olympus on a chariot of gold that was driven by beautiful, white stallions. When he stepped onto the Zeus' Fist, the whole camp felt it but not too many demigods were inquisitive enough to take a peak. Annabeth and I held hands as Gabriel and Zeus made eye contact with each other and recognized each other as brothers for possibly the first time that I ever saw them do so. "Gabriel, you have done what no mortal has ever done before," Zeus began.

None of us dared to interrupt to even ask about the transformation of his son Hercules in case that's not what he meant. "You have slain gods that no other champion could, you have traversed places that normally would make even me soil myself in fear without more than a flinch, and you have done it in the name of a selfless cause. That cause was to protect others from danger and to protect yourself from the guilt of your past. In gratitude, I would like you to come to Olympus with me and become the new God of Time itself and with Eos as your wife, you'll live long and happy with us," he finished.

No one, not even Gabriel knew how to react to such an incredible offer. It was one more incredible than the offer Zeus made to me to be one of my father's generals earlier in the summer. "For so long, I have known neither happiness nor peace even when I attempted to find it in Nadine. And now you offer me the chance at eternity of it?" Gabriel asked.

"If it's what you want and if you feel you deserve it after our service to us. I know I think you deserve it considering the remarkable resume you've built up over the years. Only someone as powerful as you can be the god of Time and safely maintain a balance of life and death," Zeus answered. "Can I at least leave something for each of these great friends I have had in my nieces and nephews?" Gabriel asked.

"Be my guest, just make your decision before Hera starts calling me back to Olympus. I promised her a date soon as I was done talking with you and either making you a god or letting you remain mortal," Zeus assured him. Gabriel chuckled to himself before turning over to us and walking back down to where we were at the base of Zeus' Fist. Nico was the first to receive a gift of gratitude from Gabriel and I would tease him later about being jealous just for the fun.

"Take my helmet, there will be no need of it where I'm going to be and besides you need a helmet to complete a suit of armor. Don't worry, it magically adjusts to fit your head the moment it is put on you," Gabriel said to him. Sure enough, Gabriel's helmet did shrink enough to make a perfect fit for Nico and boy did the guy love him for it. "I'm Gabriel Johnson and I'm gonna kick some ass!" he teased.

We bawled with laughter for a moment then we knew Gabriel needed to move on so we calmed ourselves down to get our gifts. "Percy, for you, I want to give the ring I wore after I married Nadine. It's a part of me like the helmet and you deserve to have something of that sort while I'm on Olympus," he said to me. Then he went to Annabeth and gave her the ring he had put on Nadine's finger and her proposed to her with.

"Since these were both bought with my money, I guess they're linked in way. Wear them and no matter where you two go, you'll have something that not only binds you together but reminds you of me simultaneously," he said to us both. Then Thalia was last and his gift to her was the most surprising of them all. He unstrapped the Sky Sword from his belt and handed it to her with the hilt facing her.

"Since you discovered some of your powers while fighting Prometheus, I though maybe you'd need the Sky Sword until at least you have had learned all you can learn about what you can or can't do as the daughter of Zeus. Besides, your father already controls the Heavens, he doesn't need the Sky Sword for anything except to insure that it keeps that way," Gabriel whispered. "I like it and once I learn the extent of my powers, it'll make for just additional awesomeness," she said, winking as she did so. Gabriel smiled as a small breeze blew, making his cape flow a little bit but not much.

Just then, a tear appeared in Gabriel's eye as he slowly turned away from us and walked back up to Zeus' chariot. "Goodbye my friends, my… family," he said to us all before he stepped into Zeus' chariot and was taken to Olympus by Zeus himself. Annabeth leaned on me and cried on my shoulder at seeing him depart while Thalia just barely managed to hold in her own tears and replace them with a smile. Nico swallowed back his sadness and walked off to meet with his father and Demeter, who were both waiting for him with Persephone.

As for me, I just kept looking at the skies where Zeus had created a trail of light for the chariot before taking Gabriel with him to what was probably a great life for him. Chiron came to us and told us it was time to dine at the dining pavilion. It was then that I noticed that everything was back to normal: no more military installations lying around, no massive towers guarding the walls. The camp looked as though Gabriel had never even entered it, let alone waged a war against Prometheus within its walls.

"Chiron, did you take these great lengths to eradicate Gabriel's memory of the face of the Camp?" I asked him. I knew he was jealous of Gabriel and I had no fear of what he may do to me if I exploited it. "Not eradicate him, make room for a cabin or at least a statue to honor him," he said, which really shocked me. "But you've always been jealous of him, why would you want to honor him now even if he did turn into a god?" I inquired, this setup too suspicious for me.

"Percy, could you stop calling Chiron on his treatment of Gabriel for once? I'm sure he has his reasons for taking these actions," Thalia said. "Yeah, reasons of obligation since it would be an extreme disrespect to Gabriel the _God of Time_ to not do something. Why else do you think you have Cabins to Zeus, Athena, or even Ares for that matter?" Annabeth asked.

"Enough, all of you! I have reasons _besides _obligation as well and it would be best for you to understand that quickly," Chiron shouted. We never talked again after that and since it was forbidden for us to share a table at the same spot, we thought it would be best for our conversation to continue after dinner. But we were surprised to see that people from all cabins were mingling with each other and figured we could continue our conversation about Gabriel at my table. "Should we arrange for his memorial service anytime soon?" Thalia asked.

"Good idea and since you're the one who thought of it, maybe you can lead it," Annabeth said. "I'll do it, I just need to know what we can do as a memorial service or if Chiron will even approve," Thalia replied. "I'm sure he'll approve considering that anything to start worship of the new god sooner will serve to aid him as well as the res of the Camp," I told them. "He'll probably make all the arrangements for us if that's the case and all we have to do is participate in it," Thalia agreed.

It was while we were talking about this service that Nico came to us for the last time that we would ever see him for a long while. He was coming up to say goodbye and I knew that this was certainly not going to be one of those that said he'd be around and see us soon.


	61. Thalia: Leading Gabriel's Service

**Thalia: Leading the service and thinking of Gabriel**

The very following day, Chiron had a parade built to honor Gabriel's heroic deeds. And who to be at the front of it but the daughter of Zeus herself? That's right, I led this little regiment through the Camp starting from the Big Cabin and ending at the Zeus' Fist when we had already covered every other part of Camp. We even did the Strawberry Fields to be sure everyone saw the parade that honored him. But as the parade began then came to its halt at the end of a two and a half hour trek around the Camp, I thought about everything Gabriel had ever taught me.

Whenever we weren't our separate ways or he wasn't busy talking with Percy, Annabeth, or Nico, he would come to my cabin and ask if he could teach me a trick that only a child of Kronos or Zeus would know. The first few times, he was just teaching me how to summon up lightning like my father could. But the funny thing is that as time went on by, it went from just teaching how to do them to how to control the amount of power I released at one time. These were my thoughts whenever somebody wasn't shouting, "Hey Thalia, I heard you fought Prometheus! How did that go?"

One of my favorite ones was, "I heard Prometheus nearly kicked your ass. Are you considering being a little less feminist?" In reply, I told them to give fighting a Titan a shot sometime and see if they do better. I heard no more comments of the sort after that and I guessed it was one of the Aphrodite kids since they usually never actually liked to fight but would always point out the wrongs in those who do.

But going back to what Gabriel would teach me, in time, I learned how to manipulate the elements of the sky to a minor degree. I even managed to summon a lightning bolt during one of our simulated duels and send Gabriel flying through a nearby wall. He never really taught me much after that since the war really got underway and I guessed that was why he gave me the Sky Sword as his gift to me. Because it would aid my studies in learning how to fight like my father then when I learned what I needed to learn, it would just be my primary weapon in place of the spear I lost during my first duel with him. I smiled because I knew Gabriel was prepared for precisely something like what happened to him last night.

My father had made him a god as he deserved to be and he had chosen to turn down all the power in the universe that he could demand in the form of his position _and _the Sky Sword. He was powerful but he had not chosen to be all-powerful and that told me something about his character I probably would have never figured out had he not done it. Unlike some of the Olympian gods I could name, he was not a power-hungry monkey with an appetite for only the good things that being a major god or goddess can bring. Plus, he had a goddess that he loved who would wait for him in bed every night and wish him luck with his duties every morning for as long as he remained a god or she remained a goddess.

I thought about praying to Eos sometime myself and even hade the Hephaestus kids make a few statues to honor her, Selene, and Helios. They certainly deserved it after bringing Gabriel into our lives with their actions and the way they trained him. But of course, that was after the primary honor that we had to do and that was to Gabriel himself. The statue we made him had him fully armored and wielding a pair of swords like he had been when we first met him against a couple of Prometheus' flunkies including Oceanus on one side. Then, while my thoughts dwelled on him, I put on the track I had dedicated to him. It was the song _You Raise Me Up _as sung by Josh Groban; let me tell you, it couldn't have fit today any better.


	62. Annabeth: Gabriel's IrisMessage

**Annabeth: Gabriel returns to me briefly in an Iris-message**

That night, I got almost no sleep because I was a little too busy crying. Malcolm had tried his best to cheer me up, even using jokes from my favorite comedy shows to try and help me. However, my Iris fountain began to blink with a message from Olympus itself. I had Malcolm patch it through and to my surprise, as well as eternal delight, Gabriel was on the other side.

"Hey Annabeth, thought I'd talk with you briefly before I get busy in my new duties as the god of time," he said. "A conversation with you is always welcomed at this point," I told him. He smiled and let us in on the fact that he was sharing living space with Eos like I would have imagined. "Well I got some good news and some bad news for you, what do you want to hear first?" he asked me.

"I don't care, considering it makes no difference since I'm going to hear both either way," I told him. "Hmm, good answer and I guess that shall be rewarded with the good news first. Good news is, I already have a throne built for me that when you come into the throne room, faces Zeus' throne directly," he said. "Whoa, sounds like Zeus wants to be able to tell the time just be looking at your face or he really mistrusts you," I teased him.

"Ha ha ha ha but unfortunately, that's where the bad news comes in. I attacked Hera today when she tried to coo me into forgetting about what she did to me while I was a mortal. I even used some of my new powers as the God of Time to get away with it too since I managed to significantly slow down Zeus and everyone else around me. So you can guess about how trusting he is of me with the power to control time now," he explained to me.

"Oh boy, you've infuriated the King of Olympus himself by attacking his wife! How do you live with yourself?" I teased. "Shut up, he hasn't done much yet because he knows I'm his brother and he knows I'm also Hera's brother. Not to mention, I was given probably one of if not the greatest power in the universe. At my whim, the Fates could lose their power to weave the threads because they wouldn't know how much time has passed since a person was born nor would Thanatos be able to come to collect," Gabriel said to us.

"You have a great power Gabriel, use it responsibly. Remember the old saying?" I asked him. "I know, 'With great power comes great responsibility'. I'll be sure to use it for responsible purposes in the future considering I've also been made the God of Justice itself," he answered.

"Hmm, Time _and _Justice eh? You're unstoppable now!" I said to him. "I guess I am but Annabeth, I wanted to say something in addition to all of that. Watch Chiron, he's very jealous of me because I've done more in just a few years of my life than he has in all the three thousand that he's been around. He'll be looking for a way to get back at me and he'll try to hide his jealousy very well; I'm counting on you to call him on it when you can," he said.

"I swear on the River Styx that I will do my best to do that as much as I can and when I can. You are the best uncle a girl like me could ever ask for and I wouldn't trade you even for him," I told him. "Thank you Annabeth, I knew you could be trusted with your first assignment from me in my reign as a god," he said with a smile. "Do you also want me to make sure Percy doesn't make a fool or klutz of himself?" I asked.

"He's your boyfriend, do that for yourself if you want to. Got to go now, just wanted to talk with you briefly," he answered. I said goodbye and just like that he was gone; I never saw him again after that brief message through Iris' rainbow network.


	63. Percy: Looking To New Horizons

**Percy: Looking at the horizon to the new day and the new age of gods and men**

I looked up to the skies because I knew that Gabriel was up there right now. With the knowledge that Gabriel was up there now and watching over the universe's greatest power was in itself, a great feeling. My review of these last two months can only be described as nothing short of a thrill ride from the gods. From the time I sensed that disturbance that Chiron explained as being Gabriel all the way to now, there had been nothing but action of all sorts.

Some of it was good and some of it would be regretted by all of us for as long as we lived. But either way, we felt very proud of ourselves because we had at last finished off the Titans and seen to it that their threat never rose to challenge us again. We had laid waste to a leader who had tried to break my spirit earlier in the summer before I killed Khronos (that's right, I spelled the old God of Time's name correctly). Lastly, we had saved Olympus itself from this threat to its existence that had first shown its face a few years ago when Atlas tried to help the Titans rise up more quickly.

I went to the dining pavilion since I knew no one would be there and decided that my table there would be the best place to think about the past privately. I remembered my mother's little letter and I also remembered that I needed to send her an Iris-message. Quickly, I went to the nearby fountain and put in a drachma to get a message going to her apartment. "Hello Percy?" my mother said.

"Hey mom, how are you doing?" I asked. "I'm doing great, your stepdad Paul took me to see this really funny movie today. I didn't really care to get the title because I was laughing so hard that when I got out of the theater, I kind of threw up on Paul," she answered. "Glad to hear you had a good time mom, just thought I'd talk to you for a bit and start by telling you I'll be back in time for school," I told her.

"Percy, I'm so glad to hear that! How's Annabeth doing by the way, did I scare her off you the last time I saw her?" she asked. "No mom, she and I are still going strong but that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. Mom, in your time dealing with the Olympians, have you ever known a warrior of theirs by the name of Gabriel Johnson?" I asked her.

"Your father used to mention him once or twice as his half-brother so I know of him, why?" she answered. "Well for one thing, it's true that he's my dad's half-brother by Kronos and for another, he's replaced his dad as the god of time," I told her. I figured she didn't need to know that Khronos was the real god of time and Cronus was just the Lord of the Titans. Especially since Eos told me never to tell anyone, not even Gabriel, about the truth of it all.

"That's incredible! How was that even possible for him?" my mother asked. "Well, the gods needed somebody to watch over Time itself and they figured that since Gabriel had earned his stripes, he would be worthy of being a god. So they made him the God of Time after Zeus anointed him as one of them just yesterday," I explained.

"That is all very wonderful Percy but I have to go now, Paul's calling me over for some more lessons in sculpting. Love you very much and hope to see you for Christmas!" she said before I lost her image. And just like that I was alone again to think about all that had transpired though now, I was very glad I had talked with my mom and gotten that off my chest. Then the oddest thing that ever happened to me arrived in the form of Annabeth who also came to think but found me instead.

Okay, so she wasn't so unusual but here's what is: she was wearing the skimpiest little blue bikini that I had ever seen her wear in my life. "Oh I didn't mean for you to see me looking like this, I just came back from a little swim at the lake," she said. "Hope that went well for you," I said. "Something wrong?" she asked.

"No nothing's wrong, it's just that I've been thinking about all that's happened to us since Gabriel arrived. It was a very interesting twist in Fate considering that I had plans that were very boring in comparison," I replied to her. "I had similar plans too but when I told my Dad I couldn't come down until the matter with Gabriel was resolved, I never would have guessed it would take this long," she agreed. "I truly don't know why but somehow, that bikini just looks really good on you," I said after we had a short pause.

"Oh really? Well, why don't you come with me to our favorite honeymooning spot and maybe you can see if I look better without it," she said, smiling at me and kissing my cheek after she said that. "Would Malcolm mind you being there with me when you said you'd be swimming?" I asked. "He already knows I was planning on looking for you when I was done swimming so no worries," she answered.

Then she jogged a little ways toward our favorite spot to sit down and just smooch. "Hey wait for me," I called out to her. "No way Seaweed Brain, this time you're earning the right to bonk me again," she teased. "Oh considering that I have the Curse of Achilles on my side, which helps increase my stamina, I will," I replied.

We ran as fast as our feet could carry us until I was right next to Annabeth and we just ran side by side until we reached our little reservation by Long Island Sound. Both of us were panting by the time we arrived but it didn't matter. "I hope you saved some of that energy for me," Annabeth whispered seductively before undoing both her top and bottom bikini straps. "Oh you have no idea," I whispered back as I undid my own clothes.

Soon, I too was naked although she had long since started to whistle while waiting for me. "About time you got undressed," she said with a giggle when she finally noticed I was done. Quickly, I lied down next to her, brought my hands to her waist, and brought her close to my body. After that everything else melted away as our bodies united once again and once we secured there was no one else around, the lustful thrusting of both our bodies began.


End file.
